1. Dangerfield dazzles in debut
Few club debuts have been more eagerly anticipated than Patrick Dangerfield's for Geelong. The mere mention of the former Crow's name was enough to send Cats fans into a frenzy over summer, and the three-time All Australian lived up to the hype in his first regular-season outing for his new club. Dangerfield hit the ground running on Easter Monday, racking up nine possessions in the first term, and did not let up, finishing with a game-high 43. The three-time All Australian also showcased his aerial abilities in attack during the last term, taking two contested marks against Hawks defender Ben Stratton. He did blot his copybook, missing the relatively simple set shots that followed those grabs, but we suspect Cats fans will be prepared to forgive him on this occasion.
2. Covering Roughead in attack
Jarryd Roughead was always going to leave a big hole in the Hawks' forward 50 in the first half of 2016 after undergoing a posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. But that hole seemed as big as the Grand Canyon at times against Geelong on Monday. Talls Jack Gunston, Ryan Schoenmakers and James Sicily managed just one goal and one contested mark between them in the first half, when midfielder Will Langford was an unlikely leading goalscorer for the Hawks with two majors. Gunston lifted in the second half to finish with three goals, but it was small forward Paul Puopolo and the Hawks’ midfield that provided the main avenues to goal in the premiers' third quarter comeback.
3. Geelong trades back into top-four calculations
Dangerfield was not the Cats' only high-profile recruit last trade period, with the Cats' also netting Lachie Henderson (Carlton), Zac Smith (Gold Coast) and Scott Selwood (West Coast). Selwood was the only one of the quartet who didn't make his club debut on Easter Monday, but the other recruits showed enough to suggest the Cats' aggressive trade period has catapulted them back into top-four contention. Smith capably shouldered his share of the Cats' ruck duties but also proved dangerous in attack, kicking three first-half goals, two of them coming from strong tackles on Stratton and Taylor Duryea. Henderson was less eye-catching, but teamed well with fellow key defenders Harry Taylor and Tom Lonergan to keep the Hawks’ tall forwards fairly quiet. The former Lion and Blue also drifted forward to kick a key goal midway through the final term.
4. Undermanned Hawks still ready for four-peat quest
Hawthorn's round one banner said simply: "We're ready". But with Roughead (PCL), Liam Shiels and Bradley Hill (both wrist fractures) missing on Monday afternoon, it might have been more accurate to say, "We will be ready soon". Certainly that's the way it looked during the first half when the Cats' Dangerfield-boosted midfield led Geelong to a 30-point half-time lead. But the Hawks have thrived under adversity countless times in the Alastair Clarkson era, and the reigning premiers appropriately rose to the occasion in the premiership quarter, piling on five unanswered goals to regain the lead. They could not sustain that momentum in the final term, but the rest of the competition now know the Hawks will still be a force to be reckoned with, especially when they start to regain some key soldiers.
