ESSENDON’s performance against North Melbourne has Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson wary of his side’s Round 2 opponents.
The Bombers defeated the Kangaroos by 39 points last Friday night in a performance that Clarkson described as making the pre-season’s buzz team look “inept”.
Captain Jobe Watson did as he pleased in the midfield with 38 disposals and two goals, Dyson Heppell had 37 touches, Brendon Goddard gathered 26 possessions and kicked two goals and Paul Chapman kicked four goals and had 22 disposals.
“They were pretty impressive against the Kangaroos, who we have a fair bit of time for and the way they go about it – they were made to look inept last week because the Bombers did some things really well,” Clarkson said ahead of Friday night’s blockbuster at Etihad Stadium.
“We’ll obviously be wary of some of the things but we’re a different opponent to the Kangaroos and we’ll back in some of the things we do well and see how we go.”
The Bombers dominated all facets of the game and won the key performance indicators convincingly.
They controlled the ball for the majority of the night and ended the match with 159 disposals more than North Melbourne.
But with Hawthorn’s hardened and experienced midfielders like Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis, the Hawks are well placed to win their fair share of the footy on Friday night.
Clakson says keeping the Bombers midfielders in check will be key to securing a Round 2 victory.
“They dominated all aspects of the game – contested footy, uncontested footy, clearances, inside 50s,” he said of their game against North Melbourne.
“They had as dominant display as you can have and if they have that again tomorrow night, we’re going to be battling.
“If we allow them to have that much access to the footy this week, we’re probably going to come out with a loss against them.
“We need to try and ensure we have our fair share of the footy tomorrow night and if we do, then we’ll give ourselves a great chance to win.”
The Hawks will go into the game with an undersized backline, given the unavailability of Brian Lake, Ben Stratton and Ryan Schoenmakers through suspension and injury.
It means Josh Gibson and Kyle Cheney will shoulder the key defensive responsibilities on Essendon’s tall forwards Joe Daniher, Jake Carlisle and Patrick Ryder.
But Clarkson isn’t worried.
“I reckon nearly every game in the last four years we’ve gone into since ‘Croady’ (Trent Croad) retired at the end of ’09, we’ve had an undersized defence,” he said.
“We’ve been able to cope okay with that and we’ll go in with an undersized defence again tomorrow night – it’s not different for us and we’ll do our best.
“If we can get the ball to ground level and stop the big guys from catching it, then we give ourselves a chance to be able to defend their inside 50s.”
Clarkson said swingman Matt Spangher is a chance to bolster his team’s key position stocks after returning to play two practice matches for Box Hill.
Cyril Rioli will also return after serving a one-week suspension from the Grand Final.
