Entering Sunday’s contest, Richmond ranked dead-last in the competition in clearances.
Led by Jaeger O’Meara and James Worpel who rank amongst the game’s elite in this area, the midfield battle appeared to represent an opportunity where Hawthorn could gain an ascendancy over the Tigers.
But Damien Hardwick and his on-ball brigade clearly identified this as an area of potential concern as well, with the Tigers beginning the Round 9 clash dominating the centre of the ground.
The Tigers finished the opening quarter with 10 clearances to their name compared to the Hawks’ two and, despite the close scoreboard, their midfield advantage was set in stone.
Richmond ultimately owned the clearance count 36-26 on the day.
Its centre break control was especially noticeable, winning just shy of 65 per cent.
The Tigers remain in 18th place for clearances in 2019, but the Hawks have now also fallen to 16th.
In fairness, throughout their four wins so far this season, the Hawks are yet to have won a clearance count in any of these, showing that it a loss in this area doesn’t necessarily translate to a loss on the scoreboard.
It is clearly not a key performance indicator for Alastair Clarkson’s side, but nevertheless a trend that will undoubtedly be addressed in some form this week.
