1. Burgoyne makes his presence known
Shaun Burgoyne would no doubt have been hoping to leave a good impression on the early skirmishes against his former club during Sir Doug Nicholls Round. While he did manage eight disposals (seven contested) and four clearances in the opening term, the 349-game veteran was also reported early on after making high contact while attempting to put the clamps on a prone Jared Polec deep in the Port Adelaide defence. Burgoyne didn’t seem too concerned by the report and continued to play with genuine physicality throughout the afternoon, showing a customary touch of silk with a sweet set-shot during the third term on his way to a best afield performance.
2. Whistling up a storm
It was definitely not the day to try your luck with the umpires in Launceston on Saturday. Whether it was in failing to return the ball properly following a free kick, overzealously guarding the mark or just about any other offence that may result in a 50m penalty being awarded, umpires Gavine, Nicholls and Hosking were ready to ping it. By half-time, nine 50m penalties had been awarded among 31 free-kicks. By full time the final count was a grand total of 11 50m penalties – an AFL record – from 54 free-kicks, a stats line that favoured the Hawks by eight.
3. Tale of two halves for Mitchell
Hawthorn ball-magnet Tom Mitchell twice goaled from first-half 50m penalties – one of which was booted from the goal-square following a ‘double 50’ - but the Brownlow Medal fancy did plenty of his own work to catch the umpires’ attention before the long break. He racked up 13 second-quarter touches to make it 21 for the first half, including three clearances, seven marks and four tackles. But his afternoon changed after the long break when Power coach Ken Hinkley pulled the trigger and sent Tom Rockliff to do a job on Hawthorn’s prime mover. Mitchell managed just seven touches for the second half but led all-comers with 145 AFL Fantasy points to again be among Hawthorn’s best.
HAWKS HOLD ON Full match coverage and stats
4. Rocky gets the job done
AFL Fantasy coaches may have jumped on Rockliff this week believing his recent form and relative value was too good to go past now the Power have their bye out of the way. What they wouldn’t have counted on was a down day for the former Lion, who struggled to just five first-half disposals – including a solitary touch in the second term. After the break, Rockliff shifted his focus to a shutdown role on Tom Mitchell and while he mightn’t have won the day for fantasy coaches with 43 fantasy points, his job on Mitchell might have been the pivotal play for Port as they surged back to lead late in the final quarter.
5. Hawks thrive on possession
While the Power dominated clearances by 40-27 and won the contested possession count 125-120, they couldn’t cope with Hawthorn’s weight of possession in the long run. Time and again the Hawks were able to spot-up short passes, evidenced by their dominance of the marking statistics. While Port just about broke even in contested marks, Hawthorn had 46 more uncontested marks than the Power and were able to convert possession into 21 more forward entries than a Port side which will no doubt rue its inability to transition cleanly from defence to attack in a narrow loss marred by repeated turnovers and eagle-eyed umpires.
