Hawthorn  4.5   7.6   13.8   18.10  (118)    
Gold Coast  3.3   9.5   10.6    14.8    (92)
 
Goals: Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Burgoyne 3, Roughead 3, Grimley, Breust, Bailey, Gunston, Mitchell, Hodge, Puopolo
Gold Coast: Hall 5, Ablett 3, Lynch, Prestia, Brown, Matera, Broughton, Swallow
 
Best: Hawthorn: Burgoyne, Simpkin, Mitchell, Bailey, Stratton, Lewis, Franklin
Gold Coast: Ablett, Thompson, Prestia, Hall, Matera

The Hawks overcame an impressive Gold Coast at the MCG on Sunday thanks to its ability to completely shut down Gold Coast's run in the second half.

Hawthorn looked sluggish in the opening half, with the pace and ability of the Suns to play on at all costs troubling its defensive set up.

Led by captain Gary Ablett, the Suns looked as though they might pull off the upset of the year to date as it booted six goals in the second quarter to take an unlikely 11 point lead into the main break.

It was a glimpse into the future for the Suns, who in just their third season in the AFL took it up to the competition’s league leaders and last year’s grand finalists.

Despite battling in the first half, it was Lance Franklin who sparked the Hawks by providing a dangerous target up forward in the second half on the back of the work done by the midfielders to win its fair share of the footy from the middle.

Suns pace troubles Hawks

You could almost hear the disbelief in the crowd at half time as former Hawk Campbell Brown kicked a goal after the half time siren to give the Suns an 11 point advantage and all the momentum at the main break.

It was not the Hawthorn its fans had come to expect on Sunday, with its precision passing and the desire to strangle its opposition a distant memory in the opening two quarters of football.

Hawthorn had 25 clangers to 19 at half time, a stat not usually attributed to the Hawks who pride themselves on their kicking skills.

The clanger count was a by-product of the pressure applied by Gold Coast who led the tackle count 28-18 at the main break.

The match was by no means a physical one, but the tackle count was alarming for Alastair Clarkson given the pressure was forcing his side to turn the footy over.

That meant the Suns could hurt the Hawks on the counterattack, by winning the ball at half back or in the midfield and slingshot it forward by using its pace.

Speedster Aaron Hall was damaging early, kicking three first half goals and Ablett too, had three of his own.

The Suns controlled the corridor too, and backed in their foot skills to hit targets in the middle of the ground. It then played on at all costs, with a number of players providing the overlap and running the ball forward with speed to catch the Hawthorn defence off guard.

That meant that despite entering its forward 50 just 24 times, the Suns had a paddock to work in inside 50.

At half time, the Suns had managed 14 scoring shots for 9.5 from 24 entries.

How it turned

Sitting at the ground, everyone expected the Hawks to receive a rocket from Clarkson at the main break and hoped it would spark their side into action from the first bounce of the third term.

The dynamic of the game certainly changed in the opening minutes of the quarter, with the Hawks having repeat entries inside 50.

For all their dominance though, the Hawks failed to find a target inside 50 and the Suns kicked the opening goal of the quarter to extend its lead to 17 points at the 10 minute mark of the third quarter.

From that point, the Hawks kicked six unanswered goals and snapped into gear to get itself into a match-winning position.

The revival was led by star forward Lance Franklin who seemed to be on the end of each forward 40 entry for the quarter.

He battled kicking issues but when he was on target, made the Suns pay the maximum penalty.

The Hawks out pressured the Suns and strangled them in the third quarter, not allowing them to play on like it had done in the opening half.

Hawthorn laid 26 tackles for the quarter, more than it had done in the opening two terms.

It allowed only four inside 50s and conceded just one goal for the quarter.

It was the Hawthorn its fans know and love.

What to take away

It was by no means Hawthorn’s best performance of the year, but it did enough to get the points against a much improved Gold Coast.

The Hawks strangled the Suns in the second half and its domination at the clearances meant whenever there was a stoppage, the ball would almost every time, enter the Hawks forward 50 from there.

Hawthorn had 42 inside 50s in the second half – the Suns had 42 for the entire game.

Through sheer weight of numbers (Hawthorn finished with 70 inside 50s), the Hawthorn forwards did the damage with Franklin kicking four in the second half (five for the game), Roughead booting three and Burgyone three from the midfield.

The Hawks had too much class through the middle of the ground and their stars found a way to win.

The form of Jordan Lewis and Jonathan Simpkin was a positive, with the pair gathering 33 and 31 disposals respectively and are finding some form.

Shiels does it again

For the second time in three weeks, Liam Shiels has to be recognised for his effort on the game’s best players.

Alastair Clarkson turned to Shiels midway through the third term to nullify Gary Ablett who kicked three goals to half time.

Ablett was providing his team with the motivation it needed to believe that it could beat Hawthorn and Clarkson knew he needed to be stopped.

His influence was profound for the opening 70 minutes of the game, but when Shiels was sent to mind him, his influence was nowhere near as obvious as it had been in the first half.

Shiels has the speed and strength to go with the competition’s best and has developed into a handy run with player at Clarkson’s fingertips.

The positive for Shiels is that he is capable of performing the defensive role, but also of finding the footy himself and hurting his opponent going the other way.

He finished the game with 23 touches, eight marks, four tackles, two clearances and five inside 50s.

Ablett finished the game with 37 disposals, five clearances and three goals but was nowhere near as dominant in the second half as he was in the first.

What the coaches said

Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson: “For our guys to respond in the manner that they did and get ourselves back in front by three goals by three-quarter-time was a good effort.

"We had to work damn hard to get ourselves back into the contest like that, so that's the pleasing part of the game.

"When it needed to be done, our guys did it.

Gold Coast’s Guy McKenna: “A four-goal loss to Hawthorn … I'm sure parents and people will go away and pat blokes on the back but I said we should be disappointed but we can get better by that.

"I sat in the box at the end of the game and I felt because of our turnovers, it felt like a 10-goal loss. I looked at the scoreboard and I kept seeing a four-goal loss.”