From an outside perspective, one might have assumed the Hawthorn change room at half-time was mayhem.
Trailing Carlton by 31 points, Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson was well within his right to be disappointed at his side’s lacklustre opening half performance.
But Hawks defender James Sicily said the atmosphere at the main break was not as many may have expected.
"We actually didn't cop a spray from Clarko, which was surprising," Sicily told RSN on Monday.
“He just reinforced that if they can kick eight goals to three (in a half), then we can do it.
"We just reset and went again and tried to play the way we wanted to play - we just needed to be stronger in the midfield and build some pressure.”
The four-time premiership coach’s measured approach reaped instant dividends with the Hawks putting on a display in the third quarter that perfectly characterised the Clarkson era.
Addressing its shaky ball-use in the opening half, Hawthorn quickly rectified the area in the third term, operating at a 76 per cent disposal efficiency.
The Hawks dominated time in possession, keeping the ball out of the Blues’ hands and controlling the speed of the game.
The efficient disposal of the Hawks in the all-important third quarter was complemented by a massive discrepancy in uncontested possession numbers, as Hawthorn, led by Jaeger O’Meara (22 uncontested touches for the game) and James Sicily (20), recorded 32 more uncontested disposals for the term.
Where Carlton had owned the game in the first and second quarters, Hawthorn had now wrenched the momentum back its way.
This all contributed to a sudden potency in the side’s inside 50 to score ratio.
The Hawks had just 22 inside 50s in the first half for a meagre reward of 3.3 – a scoring rate of 27 per cent.
But the second half told a completely different tale, with 34 entries resulting in 22 scoring shots at a staggering 64.7 per cent efficiency.
This improved ball-use was instrumental in ensuring the Hawks season levelled at three wins and three losses, after a 2-4 record was looking extremely threatening.
