Goalkicking.
It was a strength of Hawthorn’s all year.
In fact, the Hawks have ranked in the competition’s top four for accuracy in front of goal for the past six seasons.
On only five occasions throughout the home and away season did the Hawks register more behinds than goals, to rate second in the competition for goal kicking accuracy behind only Melbourne.
Read: Match report - Hawks v Dees
But in Hawthorn’s finals campaign, what was a forte all year became a fault.
Alastair Clarkson’s side went below 50 percent in front of goal in both the elimination and semi final, as uncharacteristic misses from the likes of Burgoyne, Breust and Gunston seemed almost common.
It was a plight of Hawthorn’s September that will undoubtedly pass as quickly as it arrived.
But, nevertheless, it may be one that the side rues over the summer, especially given that they generated four more inside 50 entries than the Demons.
Melbourne was strong in all areas of the game that we have come to expect from them this year, holding an upper hand in the clearance (36-28) and contested possession (139-124) count for most of the night.
And, while Ben McEvoy was able to match Max Gawn in the opening half, the All Australian ruckman’s quality came to the fore in the third and fourth terms when he had 21 hit-outs (eight to advantage) to Big Boy’s seven.
As Clarkson outlined post-match, the Hawks unfortunately ran into arguably the two most in-form clubs in the competition over the past two weeks.
"We just weren't playing at our best when we needed to be,” Clarkson said.
“We played two good opponents and they didn't allow us to play in the manner that we would like to play."
