WINNING the midfield battle will be crucial to overcoming West Coast Eagles at Domain Stadium on Saturday, according to Hawks Assistant Coach Brett Ratten.
The Hawks will be looking to bounce back from last week’s loss Richmond to keep their hopes of a top-two home-and-away finish alive.
Ratten said the Eagles’ midfield brigade had developed significantly this season and would provide a big challenge for the Hawks.
“Their midfield – with Naitanui leading in the ruck – they’ve got a Brownlow Medallist in Matt Priddis in good form, and their wings have been really predominant this year, with Chris Masten and Andrew Gaff in great form,” he said.
“They’ve become a very, very good unit with a lot of depth.
“They’ve had Dom Sheed come in and play a lot of games – they haven’t had to rely on Priddis to be the one that really drives their midfield, the others are really supporting each other.
“You can add Elliot Yeo into that equation as well – they’ve really grown as a group over the last 12 months.”
Priddis and Gaff are both averaging close to 30 disposals per match this season.
For the Hawks, Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis both average just over 30 disposals per match in 2015, setting up an intriguing midfield battle.
Ruckmen Ben McEvoy and Jon Ceglar will both have important roles to play against Eagles’ counterparts Nic Naitanui and Callum Sinclair.
Ratten said getting first hands on the ball would be critical, especially as the Eagles are a team capable of locking the ball inside their forward half.
“We know that you get a lot of confidence from winning clearances and we’d like to get our midfielders into the game nice and early,” he said.
“Hopefully we can control the footy, which last week we probably didn’t do too well against Richmond, especially in the first quarter.”
*Note - West Coast's Nic Naitanui has been withdrawn from Saturday's match
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