The form - Hawthorn

The Hawks are coming off consecutive losses for the first time since the 2012 Grand Final and Round 1 the following year, but it’s not due to poor form and more so lack of personnel.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, the two weeks in which they’ve played top sides Sydney and Port Adelaide, they’ve been struck heavily by injuries. But, players like Jordan Lewis, Shaun Burgoyne, Luke Breust and Jack Gunston are all in form and youngsters Mitch Hallahan, Will Langford and Billy Hartung have been important contributors, they haven’t been overawed by the big games.

Sunday’s clash against the Giants will be the perfect opportunity to get more game time into Brad Sewell and Liam Shiels who both returned from injury last weekend.

The form – GWS

After making an impressive start to the season, the Giants’ form has dropped away dramatically, suffering consecutive 100 plus point defeats.

Star forward Jeremy Cameron is battling after having an outstanding season last year but could explode at any stage such is the talent he possesses.

Callan Ward has been outstanding in the midfield but he needs friends, while Heath Shaw has been a good pick up off half-back with his run and carry.

The Giants will be looking for a more competitive and tough game, where they can hopefully match the bigger-bodied Hawks in the contested ball.

Recent history

Sunday’s game will be just the third time the Hawks have played the Giants, playing them once in each of their first and second years in the competition.

Unsurprisingly, the Hawks won both encounters by big margins – 162 points in their first meeting in 2012 and 83 points last year. That means the average winning margin for the Hawks over the Giants is 122 points.

Why have the Giants struggled?

The midfield of GWS has actually been impressive this season, particularly around the stoppages with their clearance work but where they have struggled is on the outside in their spread from the contest.

The Giants are ranked third in the league for clearances, averaging 41.1 per game and have actually won the clearance battle over Richmond (39-35) in last week’s loss.

Co-Captain Ward is one of the best clearance players in the competition this year, ranked second in the league and first at his club with an average of 7.3 per game.

Adam Treloar is also ranked in the top 14 in the league, with six per game.

But once they win the ball in close, the Giants struggle to generate run, ranked 15^th in the competition for uncontested possessions (average 211.3), compared to Hawthorn who are ranked second overall with an average of 261.1 per game.

It means their midfielders aren’t working hard enough on the spread, which is hurting their ability to win easy ball and give their forwards the chance to score.

What isn’t helping them though is that when they do finally get possession of the footy, they turn it over more often than not. The Giants are ranked 17^th in the league for disposal efficiency, running at just 69.9 per cent (Hawthorn ranked second with 73.8)

That will be an area in which Hawthorn focus in, to pressure the Giants when they have it to force turnovers and score.

Struggling Giants forwards

While the midfielders are struggling to get the ball inside 50 (ranked 11^th in the league), when they do get it in a dangerous position, the forwards are struggling to make an impact.

The Giants are ranked 17^th in the competition for marks inside 50 with an average of just 8.9 per game, while the Hawks are ranked second the league with 14.

After an outstanding year last season, Jeremy Cameron has struggled in his last two matches, kicking just one goal in each to take his season tally to 18.

But from there, the goals for the Giants dry up dramatically, with Devon Smith on 12, Jonathan Patton with 11, followed by ruckman Jonathon Giles, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Josh Kelly with seven.  
 

Hawks still number one

After two weeks out of the game thanks to a one-week suspension and the bye, the Hawks will welcome back Coleman Medal winner Jarryd Roughead to provide more firepower to the forward line.

The two-week break, Hawthorn GM of Footy Chris Fagan said has given Roughead the opportunity to freshen up ahead of a big middle of the season, where the Hawks will hope to sew up a top four spot.

Despite suffering consecutive losses, the Hawks are still the league’s best scoring team, averaging 118.6 points per game.

Unlike the Giants, the Hawks have a good spread of goal kickers, all of whom are regular contributors on the score board.

In six of their nine game this season, the Hawks have 10 or more individual goal kickers, including 12 goal scorers in rounds 3 and 4.

Hawthorn’s midfield

The Hawks haven’t felt the pain of missing Sam Mitchell too much so far thanks to the outstanding performances of Jordan Lewis and Shaun Burgoyne.

The duo are ranked one and two at Hawthorn for clearances, while Will Langford has also impressed in that area, coming in at number three.

Lewis was outstanding in the loss to the Power and is arguably in some of the best form of his career after winning 38 disposals, nine clearances, six inside 50s and two goals.

While the GWS midfield has been good at the clearances this year, they will be coming up against one of the best clearance teams in the league on Sunday, however, the clearance-winning ability o0f both teams is one area in which they are evenly matched, particularly in the centre.

Hawthorn is ranked second in the league for centre clearances, averaging 14.4 per game, while the Giants come in just behind them with 14.3 per game.

Lewis is the best at Hawthorn, ranked number with 2.6 centre clearances per game but Mitchell is still ranked second despite being out injured. Burgoyne comes in at number three, while Cyril Rioli (also out injured) is ranked equal fourth with Luke Hodge.

For the Giants, Ward is best with 2.9 per game, followed by Treloar with 2.1 per game followed by Tom Scully and the suspended Toby Greene.