BOX HILL Hawks coach Marco Bello praised his side’s ability to change the game, after a strong second half resulted in a 50-point win against Geelong on Saturday.
The Hawks led by just two points at the major break – and Bello said a player-driven turnaround was crucial.
“A 50-point win probably suggests it was an easy win, but up until half-time especially (it didn’t all go our way), and there was only two points in it at the break,” he said.
“We weren’t overly happy at half-time, and the on-field leaders were the driving force behind it in the second half, making sure we started to play some better footy.
“It wasn’t all our way and I’m glad the boys themselves were able to change it, rather than us as coaching staff having to shift personnel and work out a different game plan.
“It was all about right intent and right mindset, which they had in the second half.”
PLAYER FOCUS: Marco Bello talks about some strong Hawthorn-listed performers against the Cats.
A six-goal third term and seven-goal final quarter propelled the Hawks to their 13th win for the season, and has them sitting a game clear of Williamstown and Sandringham at the top of the ladder.
There were a number of strong contributors for the Hawks, and Bello was pleased with the contribution of his tall forwards.
The Hawks have called on a number of contributors near goal over the past month, but it was the talls who did the damage against the Cats.
Hawthorn-listed forwards Sam Grimley and Shem Tatupu combined for 10, with Box Hill debutant Chris Jones slotting five.
“Our talls played a big part – Shem kicked four, Grim finished with six and a young fella at Box Hill in Chris Jones finished with five,” Bello said.
“We had a great spread from our talls and it’s great to see that we can do both – either go into our bigs, or use the mids and smalls to get multiple goal options.
“We’re starting to get a good balance of both.”
The Hawks can all but wrap up a top-two finish with another win, which Bello said is a strong motivator for his team with two games to play before finals.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to cement a top-two spot with a win against Northern Blues on the weekend, so there’s still plenty to fight for,” he said.
“We just need to keep playing our style of football.
“We did that for a half on the weekend, but we need to make sure come finals time that we’re doing that for longer periods.”
