Hawthorn 5.4 8.8 11.11 14.15 (99)
North Melbourne 3.5 7.9 9.15 13.18 (96)
Goals: Hawthorn: Rioli 4, Bailey 3, Smith, Osborne, Burgoyne, Roughead, Hill, Mitchell, Gunston
North Melbourne: Thomas 5, Black 2, Ziebell, Mullett, Adams, Petrie, Gibson, Wells
Best: Hawthorn: Rioli, Lewis, Mitchell, Burgoyne, Lake, Gibson
North Melbourne: Wells, Thomas, Thompson, Cunnington, Swallow, Ziebell
Hawthorn pulled off the great escape in Round 5, when it defeated North Melbourne by three points at the MCG the last time the two teams met.
Unfortunately for the Kangaroos, it was the second time in three weeks it has been beaten by less than a goal, with Geelong winning by four points in Round 2.
Hawks star Cyril Rioli was the match-winner, kicking a team-high four goals from 20 disposals, proving the spark his team needed as it struggled all day to deal with the pressure and game style employed by the Roos.
The news wasn’t all good for Rioli, who almost singe-handedly dragged his team over the line with a game-breaking performance, tearing his hamstring while running at full pace on the Southern wing of the MCG. He didn’t reappear for the Hawks until Round 15 – spending nine weeks on the sidelines.
It was an opportunity gone begging for the Roos though, who failed to capitalise on their dominance, booting an inaccurate 13.18 for the game.
The biggest opportunity missed though, came in their third quarter dominance, where they kicked 2.6 to 3.3 for the term.
Lance Franklin had little impact on the game, well held by Kangaroos defender Scott Thompson.
Thompson kept the star forward goalless from just 12 disposals, and with Jarryd Roughead managing only one goal, the Hawks were starved for a target inside forward 50 such was the impressive defence of North Melbourne.
It wasn’t a pretty day for the Hawks on the stats sheet, beaten in all but one of the key indicators.
The Hawks were beaten in the contested ball (149-126), clearances (44-25) and inside 50s (63-47), it was only in the tackles that the Hawks had the better of the Roos, 49-44.
The inside 50s, in particular would have worried Alastair Clarkson during the game and in the aftermath, as sides tend to fail to win games when it is beaten badly in the inside 50s.
Hawthorn was even beaten in disposal efficiency (73.1-70.6), an area in which it prides itself on and has the reputation of being one of the best disposers of the football in the game.
Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson: “Perhaps North did deserve to win in terms of all the KPIs that they won.
"But to the credit of our guys, we've lost some of those close contests over the journey, so it was pleasing to get one today."
“It's more a process for us of looking at our game; the things we're doing well, the things we need to improve on, and hopefully get as many wins as we can, add them up at the end of the year, see where we qualify for finals, and then hope that we're playing really good footy at the pointy end of the season.”
North Melbourne’s Brad Scott: “We're not delusional. We're not kidding ourselves. There is a very specific reason as to why we're not 5-0 – we're 1-4.
“We're clear as to what those things are and we're not prepared to divulge those things in the public forum but we're very clear and we've just got to keep working but the fundamentals are very sound.”
