Hawthorn  3.4      6.8    7.10     9.12     (66)
Richmond  6.4      6.6   10.10   16.11   (107)

Goals: Hawthorn: Puopolo 2, Franklin, Lewis, Smith, Burgoyne, Guerra, Ceglar, Hodge
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, McGuane 2, Edwards 2, White 2, Jackson 2, Maric, Newman, Foley, Martin, Tuck

Best: Hawthorn: Smith, Lake, Lewis, Puopolo
Richmond: Rance, Cotchin, Ellis, Maric, Grigg, Chaplin, Martin, Astbury, Jackson

Hawthorn was convincingly beaten in all aspects of Saturday afternoon’s match against Richmond at the MCG.

From the opening bounce, the Hawks were out-worked by a Richmond side desperate to cement its place in the top eight and secure itself a finals berth.

Out-hunted

Heading into Saturday’s game, the Hawks were brimming with confidence having beaten the then second-placed Essendon at Etihad Stadium, in one of the side’s best performances of the season.

The Hawks pressured the Bombers into submission to force turnovers, and their elite skills made it difficult for the Bombers to defend their forwards.

Saturday’s performance against Richmond, however, couldn’t have been further from that performance.

Richmond was desperate and hungry for the contest.

Hawthorn was not.

The Hawks were smashed in the contested footy 19-38 in the opening quarter, and smashed in the clearances 2-16.

They were stats the Hawks haven’t seen for a long time and they were lucky to have trailed by just three goals at quarter time.

Aside from a brief return to the Hawthorn we’re used to in the second term by winning the clearances 13-9 and the contested ball 26-23 and able to keep the Tigers goalless, that’s where it all ended.

The Hawks shot out to a seven-point lead early in the third but from there, were outscored 10 goals to three in the second half to be overrun by a rampant Richmond side who were simply more desperate.

Richmond smashed Hawthorn again in the third quarter in contested footy 32-61 and won the clearances 11-13 and at the final siren there was a discrepancy of 32 in contested footy (114-146).

The final clearance numbers also reflected Richmond’s domination – 36-54.

Hawthorn simply couldn’t match the desperation of Richmond, and their hardness at the contest, something Hawthorn is usually known for.

Who won it for Richmond?

When a team is so well beaten in the midfield, you need to look at why and in this case, it was the consistency of effort and load spread amongst the Tiger midfielders.

Trent Cotchin led the way for with nine clearances and 18 contested possessions from his 34 disposals, while ruckman Ivan Maric’s second efforts from the ruck contest were exceptional, winning seven clearances and 12 of his 14 disposals were contested.

Daniel Jackson successfully tagged Sam Mitchell, who, although still managed 26 disposals, had nowhere near his usual impact.

Jackson also contributed offensively, winning 19 disposals, six clearances and two goals.

Bachar Houli won 28 disposals and his drive through the midfield was important, as was that of Brett Deledio (27 touches), Brandon Ellis (25 touches) and Dustin Martin (25 touches).

All three of Houli, Ellis and Martin hurt the Hawks with their run and carry, able to be 80 plus metre players off half back and through the midfield.

Troy Chaplin and Alex Rance were exceptional in defence on Jarryd Roughead and Lace Franklin who had no impact on the game, and in fact, kicked only one goal between them.

Man on man footy

The Hawks like to kick the ball through the zone defence of teams, but Richmond denied them that ability on Saturday.

Each time a Hawthorn defender got the ball and looked to find a teammates in space, there simply wasn’t one.

All too often in modern football, team choose to guard space rather than a man, such has been the evolution of the game from simple man on footy footy to zone defence.

Richmond wound back the clock on Saturday.

Hawthorn always had a defender on their hammer, and too often would chip a pass to a contest, resulting in a spoil over the boundary line and another stoppage in which the Tigers would win.

Brian Lake, Josh Gibson and Ben Stratton have been good this year at setting up attack from defence, but on Saturday, when they got the ball, they simply didn’t know what to do with it. They were bereft of the options that are usually on offer because of Richmond’s decision to go man on man.

Hawthorn’s then painfully slow ball movement was either stopped at centre wing, or, on the off chance it advanced to the 50, was cut off because Franklin and Roughead were competition against three or four defenders.

A shining light

Although a lot went wrong for the Hawks, the continued good form of wingman Isaac Smith must be warming the hearts of all Hawks fans and coaches.

The 24-year-old has been in Hawthorn's best in each of the matches since Round 16, when he was unlucky not be awarded best afield in the win over Port Adelaide.

Since then, Smith has consistently been one of Hawthorn's best performers and backed that up in the side's disappointing loss to the Tigers.

Smith was Hawthorn's best player, gathering 18 disposals to half time and finishing with a team-high 29 touches, four tackles and four inside 50s.

He is maturing into an exciting prospect for the Hawks.

Could it be an omen?

For Hawks fans desperate for a positive amid the negative of Saturday’s result – here’s something for you.

The last two times Hawthorn has lost to Richmond in their past eight meetings, the Hawks have gone on to play in the Grand Final.

In 2008, Richmond defeated Hawthorn by 29 points in Round 20 and in 2012, the Tigers beat the Hawks in Round 9 by 62 points before the Hawks went on to play the Swans in the decider.

Could it happen again in 2013?

Watch the coaches said

Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson: "We need to be a hell of a lot better than that if we want to be a good finals side and playing consistent footy through finals.

"We haven't played that badly for some time, so we've got some work to do.

"We played a good side today. They out-hunted us, and as soon as they were able to do that, then we were chasing leather and chasing Richmond jumpers and that makes it pretty difficult.”

Richmond’s Damian Hardwick: "We've known we're a capable side. But the thing that's been disappointing for us is that the sides above us have certainly exposed a little bit of a gap.

"Today we really challenged ourselves to make that gap smaller. I was pleased from that point of view."