A late inclusion into Hawks’ Round 9 line up, James Sicily loomed as a potential Hawthorn ‘X-factor’ as the side ran away from the Magpies to gain an early lead.
Sicily was pivotal, kicking three impressive goals before half time.
However, the win wasn’t too be, with Collingwood kicking five unanswered goals in the third term before running away 18-point victors.
“I really don’t know what happened,” said Sicily post-match.
“In the first half we really did the basics well, took the easier options and were predictable for our teammates, but I think we just strayed from that in the second half.”
Hawthorn has won just two of its nine third-quarters in 2017, a statistic that Sicily believes competitors would be aware of.
It’s no secret that our third quarters have been lacking this season, other teams would know that, but we’ve just got to keep being persistent, addressing the issues, and trying to find a solution,” said the 22-year-old.
“When we are playing the game on our terms, we’re pretty hard to stop as shown by our performance in the first quarter.
“But when the momentum shifts, we need to keep grinding it out and find a way to get the game back on our terms.”
After being omitted from the AFL side following a quiet performance against Melbourne a fortnight ago, Sicily decided to place a focus on the defensive aspects of his game. The forward finished the match against Collingwood with six tackles – equalling his career best.
“I really put a focus on trying to be good defensively this week, and in the first half I got rewarded with goals as a result.
“I think in the last few weeks I’ve been really results driven, and because the goals haven’t been coming it’s kind of played on my mind and I’ve probably got a bit frustrated.
“Today, I just wanted to do the basics well and perform my role for the team, and I was lucky enough to get rewarded with a few goals in the first half.
“But ultimately, it is team success we are after, and unfortunately we just couldn’t get over the line today.”
