The form – Hawthorn

Six wins and two losses heading into the bye, the Hawks are well placed coming into Saturday night’s clash against the Power despite falling to the Swans in their last game.

That loss came probably as a result of lack of personnel rather than form after losing Captain Luke Hodge before the game and Cyril Rioli in the third quarter.

The Hawks are actually in good form and their youngsters have stepped up in the absence of their more experienced teammates, while the likes of Shaun Burgoyne and Jordan Lewis have stepped up in their absence.

 

The form – Port Adelaide

Undoubtedly the in-form team in the competition, the Power knocked off Fremantle in their last game before the bye and head into Saturday night’s clash as favourites.

Their ball winners are in outstanding form, with skipper Travis Boak leading the way and young gun Chad Wingard coming off an outstanding five-goal performance against Freo.

Port’s defence has stood up so far this season and their attack has been dangerous, led well by Jay Schulz who is in as good a goal kicking form as ever.

 

Recent history

The Hawks have won six of their past seven against the Power including three of their last four meetings in Adelaide.

The average winning margin for Hawthorn in that time is 62 points with each game decided by five goals or more other than the nine-point win in Round 11, 2010.

In fact, the Hawks actually beat the Power by a massive 167 points just four meetings ago, in Round 21, 2011 at the MCG.

The Power haven’t beaten the Hawks since Round 18 2010, when they triumphed that day by eight points at AAMI Stadium.

 

Hawthorn’s injury toll

The flood of injuries to key players couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Hawks as they prepare to take on the current league leaders.

But, many have marveled at the depth at Hawthorn and now is as good a time as any for the youngsters like Mitch Hallahan, Will Langford and Taylor Duryea to show they can perform under high intensity and high pressure match conditions.

What some are forgetting though is that Hawthorn has covered for this type of injury toll before, in fact it was just one year ago.

At stages last year, the Hawks were without Grant Birchall, Cyril Rioli, Liam Shiels, Lance Franklin, Matt Suckling, Ryan Schoenmakers for large portions but still managed to win 20 home-and-away matches.

The Hawks have done it before.

Hawthorn pushed Sydney last week and faded in the last quarter but that will only provide valued experience for the group travelling to Adelaide to take on the Power.

 

Who will step up?

While the Hawthorn backline has been hit by injury, expect to see premiership players like Ben Stratton and Grant Birchall step up, as well as a guy like Ryan Schoenmakers who can play at both ends and is looking to cement his place in the best 22.

Since returning from a knee reconstruction, Schoenmakers has played two matches for the Hawks and split his time between forward and defence but given the injuries to Brian Lake and Josh Gibson, will most likely be asked by his coach to spend most of his time back on Saturday night.

Before injury, he was developing into a reliable, strong defender for the Hawks and had even quelled the influence of Collingwood's Travis Cloke, so he can perform well against the league's best forwards.

He will, however, require the assistance of Stratton who loves to come third man up and help out his teammates, and h has the courage too, to drop in the hole in front of the opposition's leading forwards.

Schoenmakers will likely get the match up on Jay Schulz, who has kicked 25 goals this year and is more a lead-up forward rather than a body player, so the ability of Stratton and his teammates to defend the space in front of him will be important.

Shaun Burgoyne has already shown he can still lead his team to victory and he’s done it at least two or three times this year already so expect to see him playing a key role in the midfield on Saturday night.

He was a clearances specialist with the Power and he hasn’t lost any of that talent, ranked second at the Hawks this season in that area.

The leader for clearances is Jordan Lewis, who has stepped up his contested footy game this season and will likely lead by example as the vice-captain on Saturday night.

Then don’t forget about Luke Hodge who will return from injury- a player who makes his teammates walk taller, attack harder and be selfless just by being on the ground.
 

Where have the Power improved?

Pace through the midfield has never been more important than now and Port Adelaide have a number of options who can tear opposition teams apart just by pure leg speed.

Since crossing from Brisbane, Jared Polec has been outstanding for his new club, adding to their midfield talent with the ability to break the game open.

Polec is ranked second at his club for uncontested possessions (behind Kane Cornes) and third for running bounces – he isn’t afraid to take the game on.

Add that pace to his poise with ball in hand and skills (he runs at 76 per cent) and you’ve got an immediate midfield dynamo. He is also ranked second at the Power for inside 50s, so he’s one of their key deliverers.

Matthew Broadbent and Jasper Pittard are two other who provide great run, particularly off half back, something the Hawks will need to be aware of.

The duo are ranked first and second at the Power for running bounces, so they’ll get their skates on at every opportunity. 

They are also ranked one and two for rebound 50s.

Ollie Wines is a hard nut but he’s no slouch when he gets the footy in his hands and skipper Travis Boak is also one of the key players both on the inside and outside.

Their other big improvement area has been their goal spread, with five players having already kicked 10 or more goals this season.

Seen previously as perhaps a side that doesn’t have a key, consistent gun goal kicker, Schulz is now that man and he’s now one of the best in the competition. But that’s nothing without able assistants and Chad Wingard (18 goals), Robbie Gray (13 goals) and Angus Monfries (5 but has missed games with injury) have been those players.

They also get great goal assistance from their midfield – Gray and Wingard play through the middle but Matt White (13 goals), Wins (seven), Brad Ebert (five), Boak (five) and Polec (five) all contribute.

 

No Roughead, no worries?

Out suspended, Jarryd Roughead is a big loss for the Hawks but they’ve never been a side to back away from a challenge.

Jack Gunston will now move into the full forward role and he has already shown that he can step up in the absence of his more high-profile teammates, having snagged bags of four and five in the past two years without them.

Luke Breust has also been known to step up in this area when needed, and he’s already been in outstanding form this season but the players who will need to impact the score board if the Hawks are to win are ruck pair Ben McEvoy and David Hale.

Hale has kicked only nine goals this year but is capable of being a two to three goal per game player and McEvoy is still settling into his new team, having only kicked three goals for the year.

Both can take a big contested mark – they’ll need to push forward on Saturday night.

The Hawks will also need a contribution from their midfield, namely Isaac Smith who kicked three goals in a best on ground performance in the corresponding game last season.

Smith has kicked seven goals this season, as has Matt Suckling. Jordan Lewis (four goals) and Shaun Burgoyne (three) will also be looking to snag a couple from the midfield if the Hawks are to win.

 

By the numbers

An increase in dangerous targets inside 50 plus the dominance of their midfield has resulted in the Power being ranked number one in the AFL for marks taken inside 50. They average 15 marks inside their scoring zone per game, 0.5 marks more than the second best team, which happens to be the Hawks.

While most would think Roughead is Hawthorn's number one forward 50 entry, they would be surprised to learn that he actually comes in at number three, behind Breust (20 marks inside 50) and Gunston 19. Roughead has taken 16 marks inside 50 this season.

For the Power, Schulz leads the way with 28 marks then there's a gap to the next best, with Wingard second at 15 marks. That means that if Hawthorn can work back and defend Schulz, there could an an opportunity to expose their forward marking options.

Hawthorn is ranked fifth in the competition for clearances, with Lewis and Burgoyne the most dangerous around the stoppages but interestingly, the Power come in at number 12 in the league. 

Wines and Boak are their best, averaging 5.1 and 4.7 clearances per game this season but that could be an area the Hawks can expose the Power, with Lewis, Burgoyne and Will Langford exceptional in that area this season.

Matches are won and lost in the midfield and the Hawks will hope to get on top in that area to keep the ball in their forward half.