1. Black armbands for Naitanui's mother
Eagles' star ruckman Nic Naitanui was a shock late withdrawal on Friday following the sudden death of his mother. Naitanui flew to Fiji on Saturday, where the funeral will be held, and it is not yet known when he will return. The Eagles wore black armbands out of respect. Naitanui has been a pivotal part of the Eagles' success this season and his absence proved significant, as they were unable to buck recent history to beat the Hawks without him. The Eagles have lost five of the last six games the popular ruckman has missed.
2. Lycett's lone hand
Scott Lycett was called up into the side on Friday following the withdrawal of Naitanui. By the time the teams were named 90 minutes prior to the opening bounce he was the sole ruckman in the Eagles' side, with Callum Sinclair a late withdrawal due to knee soreness stemming from an awkward landing in a marking contest during last week's draw with Gold Coast. The loss of Sinclair was a further bad omen to Natanui’s absence, with the Eagles losing just one of the last 17 games Sinclair has played. Lycett had not played since round four after losing his place to Sinclair on form and he fought hard to collect 39 hit-outs against the Hawks duo of Jonathon Ceglar and Ben McEvoy. Lycett got some support from key defender Jeremy McGovern before the defender went down with a hamstring injury in the last quarter, leaving midfielder Elliot Yeo to ruck late in the match to give Lycett a breather.
3. Hawthorn's hundred plus tackles
The Hawks have never laid 100 or more tackles under Alastair Clarkson, but they posted their debut century with 101 against West Coast on a very wet night in a highly contested game. The Eagles only laid 67. Liam Shiels set the tone with 17 tackles for the night, just two shy of the AFL record set by Jude Bolton for the Sydney Swans in 2011. Shiels was the only player on either side to lay more than 10 tackles, but didn’t limit his contribution to grabbing and scragging, gathering 21 touches and kicking an important goal.
4. Roughead's rough night turns to gold
Jarryd Roughead was having a dirty night through three quarters and looked set to go goalless for the second week in a row. But in the last quarter he bobbed up with some vital touches. He controversially kept the ball alive when he appeared out of bounds to set up Liam Shiels' last quarter goal which put the Hawks in front. He then snapped the sealer to finish with 1.3 for the night. The Hawks managed to find nine goalkickers to put themselves back in top two contention, but there is no doubt Roughead’s forward presence remains a key factor in the Hawks' premiership chances.
5. Nervous wait for LeCras
Mark LeCras was reported in the second quarter for a head-high bump on Hawthorn's James Frawley. The Hawks defender had his head over the ball and LeCras turned his body and made significant contact. Frawley was sent to the rooms for a concussion assessment for the second week running and Taylor Duryea replaced him under the 20-minute concussion rule before the former Demons captain returned to play out the game. LeCras will have a nervous wait for the Match Review Panel's findings, having been fined twice this season already; $1000 for striking Melbourne's Neville Jetta in round 14 and $1500 last week for engaging in rough conduct with Gold Coast's Matt Shaw.
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