Hawthorn Captain James Sicily has provided an insight into the team’s emotions heading into next Friday’s Elimination Final against the Western Bulldogs.
Sicily also spoke about the journey to finals, with the Hawks playing a host of do-or-die games to win 14 of their past 18 matches and surge into their first finals campaign since 2018.
We summarised the key points from Sicily’s press conference below.
On the emotions during the club’s 0-5 start
“I think we’ve gone through the range of emotions from each extreme. The start of the season was pretty sad. You put in all this work and effort through the pre-season and you have all this optimism and hope and then it doesn’t go to plan. But credit to all involved here, I think rocking up on Monday or Tuesday, you wouldn’t know the result of the weekend back even back when it was really hard so we try and ride the balance wave as best possible. The support and the environment that we’ve created allow us to do that and luckily enough, we’ve turned it around.”
On playing a series of virtual elimination finals leading into next Friday
“It’s interesting. I hope we can find some comfort in the fact that we’ve played in maybe five or six elimination finals but after the game, we’ll see how it is. I think it’s a good thing. We’ll lean into it and we’re excited to go.”
On the momentum the team has taken into finals
“We’re full of belief right now and our game’s in a good spot. We’re full of confidence and we’ve beaten some pretty good teams by some significant margins. But it’s a whole new ball game, whole new pressure and hopefully there’s 95,000 there, being the only AFL game in Melbourne.”
On his, D’Ambrosio and Moore’s All Australian squad selections
“It’s awesome for Mass and Moorey to get recognised. They’ve had really unbelievable seasons and particularly Mass, everyone knows the circumstances of how he got here so for him to produce that sort of high performance is good. Moorey’s played an undervalued role for about three to four years. He’s put in a lot of hard work and has become a great leader at the club so I’m really proud of him for getting the recognition he deserves.”
Watch Sicily’s full press conference below.
