BOX HILL Hawks coach Marco Bello and Head of Development Academy Rob McCartney review every Hawthorn-listed player's performance in Box Hill's five-point loss to Footscray Bulldogs on Saturday.
ALEX WOODWARD – 32 disposals, 10 clearances, one goal
“Woody had 32 disposals – 14 of those were contested, and 10 clearances. It’s his second week back, but he doesn’t look like he’s missed the large period of footy that he has over the past year and a bit. He’s continued to be the Alex of old. He hit the scoreboard again this week and it’s great to have him back getting his hands on the footy and providing us with some leadership.” MB
KIERAN LOVELL – 31 disposals, five clearances
“I thought this was Kieran’s most consistent game this year with regards to getting his hands on the football. He finished with 31 disposals and five clearances, he’s starting to get more of his footy in the forward half and starting to impact on the scoreboard… having a shot on goal and giving a couple away for others. He really provides a lot of energy around the contest.” MB
KADE STEWART – 19 disposals, seven tackles
“Kade won more of the ball this week, he had 19 disposals, which was good. He probably did his best work in the second half, a second jump created a goal. His tackle pressure – which has been a feature of his season – was strong again with seven tackles.” RM
ANGUS LITHERLAND – 15 disposals, six rebound 50s
“Off the half back line, Gus rarely gets beaten. He’s one of those defenders that puts his body on the line and really impacts when he needs to. He had six rebound 50s, so he’s really effective for us as an offensive option too. His defensive work doesn’t go unnoticed – crash and bash – he would have had about six spoils and impacted on plenty of other contests as well. I thought he was really influential.” MB
JACK FITZPATRICK – 14 disposals, nine marks, two goals
“Jack’s had a long lay-off from footy, so it was great just to have him back out on the park this week. He was definitely our most dangerous forward. He kicked two goals in the first quarter and had a number of shots after quarter time but didn’t convert. He had nine marks which was outstanding in his return game, and he was always a headache for the opposition in our forward 50.” RM
KURT HEATHERLEY – 14 disposals, seven marks, six rebound 50s
“Like Gus, I thought Kurt was really influential down back. He had six rebound 50s, 14 disposals and seven marks, so he was able to impact really well defensively. Footscray’s talls didn’t impact a lot on the scoreboard, so I thought Kurt and Gus did a really good defensive job for us.” MB
TEIA MILES – 12 disposals, three tackles
“Teia was a little bit quieter on offense this week – we’ve become accustomed to seeing ‘Tay’ get 20-plus disposals – but what I really liked this week was his defensive actions. He really shut down on the smalls, he did a lot of great defensive work and whilst he only got 12 disposals, he doesn’t need many to impact the game and I thought he did that well.” MB
ZAC WEBSTER – 11 disposals, seven tackles
“Zac had a great game in terms of his defensive pressure, but a little quieter game in terms for the impact he had when we had the ball. Zac finished with 11 possessions, he had a really good second quarter, but probably wasn’t to the standard he’s set over the past fortnight. We’d be looking for Zac to get a bit more of the footy, but continue to bring the defensive pressure he provides.” RM
RYAN BURTON – Eight disposals, four rebound 50s
“It was Ryan’s first game back since April, it was great to see him back on limited game time. He really stood out with regards to taking marks, but also his ball use. He only had the eight disposals, but he would have gone at 100 per cent efficiency. He really makes the most of his disposals and had four rebound 50s. Having not played for a while, he probably wasn’t able to sustain it late in the game.” MB
MARC PITTONET – Eight disposals, 23 hit-outs
“Pitto was a little bit quieter this week, he was up against an experienced ruckman in Will Minson and finished with 23 hit-outs. Probably around the ground, Will had the better of him, but I thought Pitto competed reasonably well against a bigger, more experienced opponent. No doubt he would have learnt a lot from that match-up.” MB
LUKE SURMAN – Six disposals, two marks
“Surmo was a bit quieter this week after a couple of good games at VFL level. He just came up against a pretty seasoned opponent in the ruck in Minson, and probably didn’t have the same impact as in previous weeks. We’ve been really happy with his development over the past month and we’re sure he’ll bounce back this week and have a contribution in our game.” RM
BILLY HARTUNG
“Unfortunately, Billy hurt his ankle in the first few minutes of the game, so he didn’t have a lot of impact on the game. Hopefully he’ll be right to play this week and we get that run and link-up play that we usually expect from Bill and have seen over the last couple of years.” MB