LUKE Breust has highlighted West Coast’s midfield as a key component the Hawks will need to combat in order to claim a victory in this weekend’s qualifying final.
Breust said the Hawks will have their work cut out for them as they travel to Perth this week to face a West Coast side hungry for their first finals win since 2012.
“They’ve got a number of really good strong bodies in there and are very good in close, they’ve got great hands,” Breust told RSN on Tuesday morning.
“(Matt) Priddis and guys like that are complemented by (Andrew) Gaff and, obviously (Chris) Masten’s gone down, but they’ll have runners on the outside as well, so it is going to be a huge battle.”
Keeping the ball in their forward half will also be a focus for Hawks, according to Breust.
“I guess if you can get it in to your forward line and lock it in there then you’ve probably got a good chance of winning the game,” he said.
And while the Hawks haven’t had to travel away from the MCG in any of their three most recent Premiership-winning finals campaigns, their trip to the west this week presents no trepidation.
“We went over there a few weeks ago and we’ve travelled well in the past so I know it’s certainly going to be a different West Coast team that we’ll face this week but we’re fully confident we can the job done on the road,” Breust said.
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