HAWTHORN faces the giant task of quelling the influence of Aaron Sandilands in tonight’s blockbuster at the MCG but David Hale is confident the Hawks have the arsenal to overcome his dominance.
The biggest and most dominant ruckman in the AFL, Sandilands has been outstanding in Fremantle’s opening two matches, averaging 48 hit outs in each – the most of any ruckman in the game.
Not only is the big man getting his hands to the ball but he’s also palming it to the advantage of a teammate - he had 21 hit outs to advantage against Gold Coast last Saturday.
But Hale, who’ll play game 200 tonight is confident he and fellow ruckman Ben McEvoy along with the Hawthorn midfielders can quell his influence.
“The onus on you getting hit outs is probably taken away a little bit because you’re going up against a light tower,” he joked.
“You just have to try and minimize the impact that he has on the game as much as you can because he has such a dominant skill set.
“(You also) try and give your midfield a bit of predictability on where the ball might go but above all just try and compete as hard as you can.
“You might not be able to win all the hit outs but the work you do around the ground to try and nullify the impact his hit outs actually have is something we’ll go into the game and focus on.”
The Dockers have conceded just 10 goals in their opening two matches – five to Collingwood in Round 1 and five to the Suns last weekend.
Their pressure is as good as it has been and their defence tight.
Hale knows he and his fellow forwards – Jack Gunston, Jarryd Roughead, Luke Breust and Cyril Rioli will need to take their chances when they present.
“You know it’s always going to be a grind against Fremantle and a very tough battle,” he said. “It’s highly unlikely we’re going to kick 20-odd goals like we did in Round 1.
“It’s going to come down to the midfield battle and being able to isolate and kick goals when we get the opportunity.
“Our forward line has a lot of options and an array of talent that is hard to match-up on – we’ve got a good mix with talls and smalls.
“With our midfield as well, we can get some good supply and hopefully that’s the case tonight.”
He says too the Hawks’ ability to match Fremantle’s pressure, particularly up forward will be crucial to securing a victory.
“Getting inside 50s will be key as well because they limit a lot of those so when we do get it inside, we need to hold it in there or get a score. That’ll be important,” he said.
Both teams will be without key personnel, with Hawthorn missing Captain Luke Hodge, defenders Brian Lake, Ben Stratton and Ryan Schoenmakers and veteran midfielder Brad Sewell.
Fremantle will be without suspended duo Nathan Fyfe and Zac Dawson, while Michael Barlow is out with a knee injury.
But Hale believes the outs for both sides will matter little. He says the Hawks have the depth to cover for their missing stars.
“It’s the making of a good club, if you lose one you replace him with another and we’ve been pretty happy with the depth we’ve got with our youngsters coming through,” he said.
