HAWTHORN 4.5 7.6 13.8 18.10 (118)
GOLD COAST 3.3 9.5 10.6 14.8 (92)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Burgoyne 3, Roughead 3, Grimley, Breust, Bailey, Gunston, Mitchell, Hodge, Puopolo
Gold Coast: Hall 5, Ablett 3, Lynch, Prestia, Brown, Matera, Broughton, Swallow
BEST
Hawthorn: Burgoyne, Simpkin, Mitchell, Bailey, Stratton, Lewis
Gold Coast: Ablett, Thompson, Prestia, Hall, Matera
Official crowd: 28,112 at the MCG
Who played?
HAWTHORN
B: Stratton Lake Guerra
HB: Mitchell Gibson Cheney
C: Smith Hodge Shiels
HF: Puopolo Franklin Lewis
F: Gunston Roughead Breust
FOLL: Bailey Sewell Burgoyne
I/C: Simpkin Grimley Hill Duryea
GOLD COAST
B: McKenzie Hutchins Stanley
HB: Swallow Thompson Murphy
C: Shaw Ablett Harbrow
HF: Broughton Lynch Lonergan
F: Brown May A Hall
FOLL: Day O'Meara Prestia
I/C: Gorringe Matera Brennan Russell
What happened?
The Hawks last met in the Suns in May last year and under similar circumstances, but this time with Gold Coast on the rise having won their previous two matches against Western Bulldogs and Melbourne.
The Suns brought the momentum of their last two matches into the clash with Hawthorn and on the back of a dominating display from Gary Ablett in the opening half, led by as much as 17 points early in the third term.
Hawthorn turned their form around in the second half thanks to a great performance by midfielder Liam Shiels on Ablett (who still finished with 37 touches and three goals but had nowhere near the influence in the second half as he did in the first) and a lift from senior players like Shaun Burgoyne, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Lance Franklin.
In a third quarter surge, the Hawks upped their pressure around the ball carrier and laid 26 tackles on their way to kicking seven goals to one for the quarter. Burgoyne led the charge, booting two goals of his three goals in the quarter.
Hawthorn’s domination in the midfield in the second half led to 42 inside 50s for the final two quarters.
Franklin finished with five goals and Burgoyne and Roughead three, while Mitchell had 36 disposals, Jonathan Simpkin 33 and Jordan Lewis 31.
Gold Coast’s pace through the midfield troubled the Hawks in the first half, catching them off guard on a number of occasions and spread the defence wide, with the Hawthorn defenders unable to assist by weight of numbers. Contests deep forward for the Suns were one-on-one situations.
Speedy small forward Aaron Hall did the damage, kicking five goals for the game, while Dion Prestia had one of his best game, gathering 32 disposals in the midfield.
Defender Rory Thompson held Franklin well in the opening half but was a victim of the sheer weight of numbers as the Hawks midfield surged the Hawks forward 42 times in the second half.
