Mitchell prolific
Sam Mitchell continued his stellar year in the qualifying final against West Coast.
Mitchell gathered 35 disposals, four rebound 50s and four inside 50s. He is among the favourites to take out this year’s Brownlow Medal, and could also add to his four Peter Crimmins Medals.
Hawks dominate clearances
Despite going down by 32 points, the Hawks were dominant in the middle of the ground winning the centre clearances 15 to 8, and the overall clearance count 50 to 40.
Unsurprisingly, Sam Mitchell led the charge with 10.
The Hawks’ continued good work around the stoppages will be crucial to their hopes against Adelaide Crows in this Friday night’s semi final.
Tackle pressure
Hawthorn easily had the better of the Eagles in the tackle count winning 89-58.
While it may reflect West Coast's ascendency through general play, Hawks such as Liam Shiels, who is second in the AFL for average tackles per game, and Will Langford applied the pressure with nine and seven tackles respectively.
Room to improve
There's no doubting the Hawks have plenty of room to improve this week.
A number of individuals were down on their usual output last week, but it was the Hawks' disposal efficiency which was the biggest concern.
The Hawks are ranked number one in the competition for disposal efficiency, but went at just 67.8% against the Eagles, compared to their season average of 75.7%.
Gunston injury
The Hawks’ leading goal kicker for 2015, Jack Gunston, is considered an unlikely semi final starter after suffering a suspected ankle injury against the Eagles.
The key forward went down awkwardly in the final quarter against West Coast, with the extent of the injury set to be revealed in Tuesday’s Bupa Recovery Report.
Gunston has kicked 53 goals this season and would be a big loss if unavailable - however Jarryd Roughead says the Hawks have the firepower to cover the star forward if he's not fit in time to play.
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