LUKE Breust says the Hawks have learnt from its close finishes against Adelaide and North Melbourne in the past two weeks.
The Hawks were coming off a thrilling 3-point victory over North Melbourne when it took on Adelaide, and faced another tough finish at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.
Hawthorn eventually held its nerve to run out 11-point winners against the Crows thanks to a four goal to three final term.
The small forward says winning the close games now will hold Hawthorn in good stead when it hopefully plays finals later this year.
“You take confidence from winning the close ones and we’ve definitely learned from them,” Breust told hawthornfc.com.au
“Finals are obviously always tight so as much as we can learn during the regular season is going to help us come finals.”
Adelaide was able to apply pressure and close down Hawthorn’s space in the second and third quarters, after being outplayed in the first term where Hawthorn built a commanding 22 point lead.
The Crows restricted Hawthorn’s ability to use their elite foot skills, holding them to a kicking efficiency of 61.8 per cent for the game.
Breust felt the Hawks were forced into rushing their disposal, particularly out of the back half in the middle quarters.
He says the turning point was the ability of his teammates to stay composed when the heat was on, enabling it to kick goals at crucial stages of the final term.
None were more crucial than when Scott Thompson put the Crows in front two minutes into the last quarter, only to have the lead snatched straight back by a Jarryd Roughead goal five minutes later.
From there, the Hawks kicked three goals to open up a handy 25 point buffer midway through the final term.
“We just had a little bit more composure out of our back half,” Breust said of Hawthorn’s final quarter.
“We used the ball a bit better by foot, being more composed was probably the biggest thing that allowed us to get the game on our terms.
“We probably rushed our disposal a little bit early, and put ourselves under the pump whereas in the last quarter we were a little bit more measured and kept control of the ball.”
The Hawks bounced back in two of its key performance indicators down in the win over North Melbourne.
It won the contested ball 135-128 and the clearances 36-30.
Breust says those two areas are Hawthorn’s barometer.
“It’s a key area every week the clearances and contested possessions, if that midfield battle can be won by us, then it gives our forwards and even our defenders a better chance of winning the ball,” he said.
“That’s pretty much the barometer of our side.”
