HAWTHORN’s defence will be tested by a potent Adelaide forward line during Friday night’s important clash against Adelaide Assistant Coach Luke Beveridge says.
Beveridge has had his defence severely hit by injury this season and has battled for most of the year without his two strong pillars – Brian Lake and Josh Gibson.
Hawthorn will have to to do so again at Adelaide Oval tomorrow night, with Lake out suspended and Gibson still recovering from surgery on his injured pectoral.
The Crows could stretch the Hawthorn defence, with Taylor Walker, Josh Jenkins and James Podsiadly all stay-at-home forwards who have performed well this year.
Jenkins (29 goals) is ranked second for goals kicked this season behind Eddie Betts (33), while Podsiadly has booted 20 and Walker 12 since returning from injury in Round 9.
The Crows are ranked fourth in the league for scores this year, averaging 94 points per game.
The Hawks will need to find a replacement for Lake but that player might not come from outside the team that lost to North Melbourne last Friday night, with swingman Ryan Schoenmakers available to fill his shoes.
Schoenmakers helped stabilise Hawthorn’s defence against North Melbourne last week when Drew Petrie kicked three goals in five minutes, while Matt Spangher will take one of the tall trio, and Ben Stratton and Angus Litherland can also play tall.
“There’s real scoring potential in their forward line,” Beveridge told hawthornfc.com.au
“We’ve got some options down back with ‘Stratts’ being back, ‘Spang’ playing pretty well and ‘Gus’ Litherland can take a tall, we just need to work out what’s best for the balance of our side.
‘’Schoey’ might play back - we just need to work out what we do.”
Schoenmakers has performed well in defence this year, holding Coleman Medal leader Jay Schulz to just one goal and zero marks in the loss to the Power in Round 10.
Beveridge has gone on record praising the defensive work of the young key position player, while challenging him on his effectiveness with ball in hand.
After suffering a shock loss to the Roos last Friday night, Beveridge says the Hawks are aware of the danger Adelaide pose after they defeated cross-town rivals Port Adelaide just two weeks ago.
The Crows have pulled off upset wins over top teams twice this season, beating Collingwood in Round 9 and the Power in Round 15.
In both those games, the Crows were manic in their attack on the man and the ball, laying 93 tackles against the Pies and 91 against the Power.
Beveridge says the Hawks are under no illusions, they’ll need to be at their best to bounce back after last week’s loss to North Melbourne.
“We’re expecting a fierce contest,” he said.
“As we saw with the Kangaroos last Friday there are teams that are capable of beating the top sides, you can’t take anyone lightly.
“You need to make sure you play your best footy to beat these sides and we’re under no illusions that we need to do that to beat the Crows.”
