1. An all-too fleeting glimpse of Cyril
When you walk through the arrivals gate of Launceston Airport, you are greeted with the smiling visages of several Hawthorn players, including Cyril Rioli. It was the closest the locals had been to the Hawthorn wizard for more than a year given that he had missed the last four games at their second home ground. Whether there is a Rioli jinx in Launceston is unclear, but he might not be in a rush to come back anytime soon after hurting his knee in a marking contest in the third quarter. Rioli was just starting to come into the game after a scratchy start and the Hawks will hope the injury is not too serious. With Ben Stratton also nursing a knee injury and Isaac Smith on report, it wasn't the best of days for Hawthorn, irrespective of the result.
2. Lions spirited but ultimately over-matched
The Lions will be disappointed with the size of the 38-point loss. They started each quarter brightly and there were stages in the third quarter when they dominated possession and had the ball inside their forward half for considerable periods. Their dominance was typified by coltish, high-flying forward Eric Hipwood who was marking everything and threatening to be the great disruptor. But he missed two gettable shots and then lost confidence, looking to give the ball off at every opportunity. Class and experience eventually won out here, although the Lions were lippy and happy to push and shove all afternoon. Their spirit was terrific.
3. Hawks spread the love
A feature of the Hawks when they were at their best was the spread of goalkickers. They returned to that on Saturday with 11 players getting on the scoresheet, but not many would have picked Ricky Henderson, the former Adelaide defender as the leading goalkicker, with three majors. Two of them came in the final quarter as the Hawks piled on the goals, but it was a pleasing afternoon for the most low-profile of the quartet of players brought to club from rival teams over summer. There is a question whether he is keeping a younger player out of the side, but his spot is safe for the next few weeks based on that 21-possession outing.
4. Rich response from under-fire Lion
Daniel Rich came into the game under a bit of pressure, after some of his less than stellar physical work was well highlighted all through the week. But he responded well, winning plenty of possessions from the start and earning plaudits for a brave mark in the second term while being cannoned into by Hawk forward Tim O’Brien. He ended up with 22 disposals including nine contested.
5. Tumbleweeds at the Tassie box office
The Hawks sent themselves a congratulatory tweet before the game, hailing their record 9370 Tasmanian members so far in 2017. But it didn’t necessarily translate to the box office on Saturday with just 10,553 in attendance at University of Tasmania Stadium, the third-smallest crowd since the club started playing games in Tasmania in 2001. The atmosphere was flat all afternoon, with the locals perhaps turned off by their Tassie Hawks after the 75-point loss to St Kilda a fortnight ago. That game snapped a 19-game winning streak in Launceston. A new streak starts now, but will come under immediate threat in round 16 when Greater Western Sydney comes to town.
