It is one thing to generate inside 50s, it is another thing to put scores on the board on the back of them.
In Hawthorn’s game against Adelaide on Saturday night, it was a tale of two halves in this respect.
Ferocious forward pressure from the Hawks had led to 20 forward half intercepts (compared to the Crows’ nine) and 16 forward half tackles (compared to the Crows’ 10).
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The numbers would suggest the Hawks took a much greater margin into the main break than the four-point difference they held.
This effort saw the Hawks enter forward 50 a blistering 33 times in the first half.
For reference, Melbourne average the most inside 50s of any side in the league with 60.2 per game and the Hawks rank fourth with 56.
But the Hawks, who rate 15th league-wide for converting entries into scores, continued their struggles in this area, managing just three first-half goals from these 33 chances.
Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson said his side simply failed to reward themselves on the scoreboard in the first two quarters.
"We were playing well (in the opening half), but we were frustrated … because we had 33 inside 50s for three goals, and that's not going to win you too many games of footy.
"Because we defended so well, we were still in front at half-time.”
But in a pivotal third quarter the Hawks turned this issue into a major strength, booting 7.2 from their 15 inside 50s.
The game broke open for the brown and gold but, importantly, their defensive end remained stingy with the Crows failing to score in the third term.
At the finish, the Hawks recorded less inside 50 entries in the second half than the first, with 28 in the third and fourth quarters.
Yet they kicked triple the goals as what their first half delivered.
"In the second half, we took our chances a bit better, opened up the space a bit better and just directed our opportunities to teammates in better space in the third quarter and that split the game open, which was really pleasing,” Clarkson said.
