Hawks star duo Will Day and Jack Ginnivan have shedded light on their side’s mindset shift from its agonising loss to Port Adelaide to its 25-point win over Brisbane in Round 11.
After being run down by the Power the week prior, the Hawks held their nerve in the final quarter at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, surging to a commanding win.
Day admitted while the learnings from the week prior were hard to take, they did play a role in the side’s improvement on Sunday afternoon.
“I think it was a good thing that last week was popping into our heads,” Day told RSN Breakfast.
“We had a lot of learnings throughout the week and it was awesome to be able to change the way we went about it and get a different result.
“We really just brought in together and were able to implement some good things this week.”
Ginnivan echoed Day’s thoughts, adding that both results have helped strengthen the team’s confidence going into the back half of the season, proven by Hawthorn now winning four of its past six games.
“We’re really coming into the game thinking we’re going to win… so that’s always a great mindset to have,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“Now that we’ve won four out of our last six, and it should be five of our last six, I’m really confident and the boys around me are so confident that we’re genuine threats in the competition.
“Teams don’t want to play us, it’s not an easy win when you play Hawthorn.”
Day went further to say that the trust within the playing group has also improved in recent weeks.
“We’re playing a lot more predictable footy which has really simplified everything for us,” the 22-year-old said.
“In the last month, we’ve really dialled into the little things.
“We all know what our teammates are going to do and when you do that, you can build trust and you know what your teammate’s going to produce which makes it a lot easier out there.”
Both among the core of young talented Hawks, Day and Ginnivan have played big roles in the team’s resurgence in the past six weeks.
After a slow start by his lofty standards since returning from injury, Day has recorded a combined 53 disposals in his past two games.
Meanwhile, Ginnivan has benefitted from pushing up the ground and getting more involved in the contest, averaging a career-high 15.2 disposals per game to go with 1.1 majors.
