Hawthorn 4.6 8.12 12.19 19.21 (135)
Brisbane Lions 6.1 7.2 8.2 11.4 (70)
Goals: Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Burgoyne, Roughead, Breust, Gunston, Puopolo 2, Mitchell, Rioli, Savage, Hill.
Brisbane Lions: Brown, Zorko 3, Raines, Polkinghorne, Rich, Cornelius, Bewick.
Best: Hawthorn: Burgoyne, Suckling, Puopolo, Franklin, Mitchell, Roughead, Rioli
Brisbane Lions: Zorko, Rockliff, Hudson, Raines, Brown
Crowd: 35,492 at the MCG
Despite an inaccurate opening term and an even first half, the Hawks powered to a 65-point win over Brisbane the last time the two teams met.
The Hawks controlled the game for most of the day, but it was their inability to convert that allowed the Lions to take a seven point lead into quarter time. The Hawks dominated the inside 50s, 18-11 but the Lions were much more efficient heading forward, with a disposal efficiency of 76 per cent, compared to Hawthorn’s 69.
Once the Hawks cleaned up their disposal though, the Hawthorn forwards - led by Lance Franklin became increasingly dangerous.
By the time the final siren sounded, the Hawks had a disposal efficiency rating of 74 per cent, and forwards Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Paul Puolpolo, Jack Gunston and Luke Breust finished as the Hawks’ multiple goal kickers.
What was most pleasing for the Hawks was their ability to lock the footy in their forward half.
In a season-high for the Club, Hawks players laid 97 tackles. Those tackles forced the Lions to turn the ball over, and find a target on 65 per cent of the time, while the Hawks turned those turnovers into forward attacks.
Hawthorn had 71 inside 50s to 41, with an avalanche of forward entries in the second and third quarters in particular.
In the third term, when the Hawks put their foot down and built a sizeable lead over the Lions, the Hawks entered their 50 18 times to just eight entries for the Lions. That translated to 13 scoring shots to one in what ended up being the quarter that set up the win.
The pressure the Hawks put on the Lions was immense, and proved too much for a young Lions outfit that would have been confident of causing an upset heading into the match.
The Hawks laid 29 tackles in the second, 23 in the third and a massive 31 in the final term, illustrating their desire to win the footy back at all costs.
Shaun Burgoyne enjoyed more time in the midfield and was best on ground for the Hawks with 25 possessions, seven tackles, five clearances and two goals.
Half backs Matt Suckling and Grant Birchall were too at their best, with Suckling gathering 26 possessions at 81 per cent efficiency, and Birchall had 25 at 88 per cent. They combined for 10 of the Hawks’ 29 defensive rebounds.
What Alastair Clarkson said: “We slowly wore them down and were able to get some scoreboard pressure on. Our intent and that sort of stuff was pretty good all day, but the scoreboard didn’t indicate that in the first quarter, but once we got that right, we gradually wore them down.”
