After a disappointing end to their 2016 campaign, winning just two games since the mid-season bye, the Box Hill Hawks have experienced a stunning 180 and sit undefeated and equal top of the table six rounds into the 2017 season.
In his first year as senior coach, Chris Newman is pleased with the team’s transformation, but believes they’ve got plenty more to give.
“It’s a nice start,” said the former Richmond captain.
“Every game we’ve had our challenges. It hasn’t been that easy, but we’ve managed to wrestle momentum back from opposition and found a way to win in each of those six games.
“We’ve still got a lot of room for improvement which is an exciting thing, but It’s obviously a really good start to the season.”
According to Newman, the team has been “rejuvenated” through the inclusion of new personnel, and few have had as much impact as first-year Hawthorn rookie James Cousins.
Selected his with Pick 46 in the Rookie Draft, Cousins has been consistently among the highest-disposal getters for Box Hill (notching another 29 touches on Saturday), an effort that comes as no surprise to Newman.
“We knew that even when he was put on the rookie list that he could find the footy.
“He’s had an impact straight away and has been really consistent for us. Most importantly, he had 10 tackles on the weekend to compliment his 29 touches, so his defensive game has come a long way.
“He provides us with some real grunt with his clearance work, and it’s just really exciting to see some of these younger guys playing good footy for us.”
Cousins is certainly not alone, with fellow 2016 draftees Harry Morrison, Mitchell Lewis and Oliver Hanrahan all showing positive signs in their first season.
“They’ve all had stand out games, and they’ve all had patches where they have room for improvement,” said Newman.
“Harry had a slow start this week, but had a really impressive last half, Mitch kicked two important goals for us in the last quarter, Ollie had a bit of a niggle so didn’t play much game time today but was really impressive last week when he went into the middle of the ground, so each of the new guys are showing signs which is fantastic.”
With a bye this week, Box Hill will look to refresh and refocus before facing up against competition benchmark Port Melbourne a fortnight from now.
“We’ll have our work cut out for us because they’re the team to beat, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
