Alastair Clarkson essentially wrote this article for us this week.
Following the Hawks’ 27-point loss to Brisbane on Saturday, Clarkson lamented his side’s missed opportunities throughout the match.
“There’s a lot of aspects of the game that we’re pretty happy about,” Clarkson said after the game.
“We were playing a good opponent and in a lot of facets of the game we really served it up to Brisbane today, but the one key component of the game is to score on the scoreboard.
“I think the third quarter really summed it up; they had eight inside 50s for the quarter which isn’t many, and they score five goals one from those entries and we had many more entries than that and kicked one goal five.
“That’s a reflection of the polish of your finishing skills. Brisbane kicked them when they had opportunities, and we didn’t kick ours.”
Despite registering 15 more inside 50s than their opposition, the Hawks were unable to make the Lions pay.
Hawthorn booted four or more behinds in every quarter, finishing with 18 for the day, accompanying just seven majors.
The Hawks didn’t just dominate the forward entries count, also recording more disposals (369-339), clearances (42-33) including more than double the centre breaks and hit-outs (45-26).
The Hawks will likely reflect on this Round 19 loss as one that truly got away.
