Hawthorn Assistant Coach Adrian Hickmott says the Hawks will take lots of learnings from their pre-season hit-out against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night in Launceston.
After a slow start to the game, the Hawks were able to respond with more effort in the second half but they ultimately fell short by 11 points.
With the club’s Opening Round clash with Sydney now just four days away, Hickmott acknowledged the areas of growth for the team when speaking to the media on Thursday night.
We summarised the key points from his press conference below.
On the half-time reset
“The first half wasn’t up to our standards. We were minus 25 in inside 50s and minus 18 in contested possessions so it wasn’t us. We pride ourselves on pressure and contested possession and we didn’t do that in the first half. But in the second half, we were pleased, we did a good job.”
On the side’s ability to convert chances late in the game
“That last 10 minutes let us down. Our skills were pretty scratchy, definitely in the first half. In the second half, they got better… but our skill efficiency wasn’t quite there which made us turn it over and they took advantage of that. Of course, we’d like to get over the top and win these games, but we’ll go back and learn and make sure we train with good intensity and work on our skill efficiency.”
On Tom Barrass and Josh Battle’s impact on the game
“Yeah, they looked good. They worked together really well. The back six or the back seven, with (Josh) Weddle and the other guys there, their scoring efficiency against was pleasing. I think the Bulldogs had 61 inside 50s which is a fair bit so to hold up when they did was a good effort.”
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On Hawthorn’s upcoming night games in Launceston
“Yeah, we’re definitely looking forward to it. We play every game as it comes but night (in Launceston) gives us a different look at games and tonight was a good experience for that.”
On continuing to improve in 2025
“We went from 16th to 6th (last year) and we definitely want to take the next step and get our list right, get our game style right and make sure we hone in on that during the week.”
Watch Adrian Hickmott’s full post-game press conference below
