Sunday afternoon at the MCG doesn’t get much bigger than a battle between two of the AFL’s heavyweights, Hawthorn and Collingwood.
Contests between these two sides are always hard and tough and often, provide fans with a number of memorable highlights and Sunday’s clash won’t be any different.
Both sides are coming into the clash on the back of impressive wins, with the Hawks recording a big win over the Eagles in Perth and the Pies, a come from behind victory over Carlton at the MCG.
Travis Cloke and Quinten Lynch
The Hawthorn defence gets no relief from facing two big key forwards this week after already battling Geelong’s Tom Hawkins and James Podsiadly and West Coast’s Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy in the opening two rounds.
This week, the equation is Travis Cloke and Quinten Lynch, two workhorse forwards who are as hard to match up on in the air as they up the ground with their running power.
Cloke has shown strengths in different ways in the first two rounds – first his marking and goal kicking power and second, his willingness to run himself into the ground, to impact the game by his gut running and aggression towards forward pressure.
Despite failing to kick a goal against Carlton, Cloke’s work ethic where he covered over 12kms over four quarters, was vital in setting up Collingwood’s win.
Usually against Hawthorn though, it is Cloke’s marking and goal kicking power that is on show.
In the Qualifying Final last year, Ryan Schoenmakers was no match for the Pies forward as he kicked six goals to be Collingwood’s most dangerous forward.
It has been the inclusion of former Eagle Lynch though that has given the Pies another dangerous and versatile option. Lynch was one of Collingwood’s best in the win over Carlton, showcasing his ability to almost act as an extra midfielder when in the ruck.
Lynch gathered 24 disposals, 13 of those were contested and six clearances in three and a half quarters as Collingwood’s ruckman. He too, provides Cloke with a dangerous second target inside 50 for Collingwood.
The Hawks defence
With Lynch and Cloke two genuine big and strong key forwards, the Hawks face a dilemma at selection and Alastair Clarkson needs to decide whether a debut for recruit Brian Lake is suitable against Collingwood on Sunday.
It seems the logical decision to bring Lake in, given he was recruited to the Club because he’s a player who can take on the opposition’s gorilla forward but, he’s played just one match since the opening week of the NAB Cup.
Given Lynch and Cloke are just as big and strong as each other, could the Hawks again find themselves undersized in the back half?
The improvement of key defender Ryan Schoenmakers will be put to the test against the Collingwood pair, especially if he finds his way onto Cloke.
Twice last year, Cloke took six contested marks against the Hawks as Josh Gibson tried to act as the third man up at the contest.
The Hawthorn coaching staff though, would have nothing but confidence in Schoenmakers and Gibson though, with their start to the season on two potent forward lines impressive.
Stars v stars in the middle
The midfield battle will be an intriguing one, with both sides possessing a number of superstars in the middle.
For Hawthorn, there’s Sam Mitchell and Cyril Rioli, but they’ll of course be without Brad Sewell with a hamstring injury.
Mitchell in particular is an important player for the Hawks and, he loves playing against the Pies.
In his last five matches against Collingwood, Mitchell has gathered 31, 33, 32, 31and 34 possessions. Collingwood just doesn’t seem to have a player capable of restricting his influence.
On the other side, Collingwood has Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury who are two of the most consistent performers in the league.
Carlton was able to lock down on the pair in the first half, but the pair still managed to have an impact and give the Pies the spark they needed in the second half.
What makes them more dangerous is that they hit the scoreboard. Swan is capable of kicking anywhere between two and four goals, while Pendlebury has added goal kicking power to his game in the last two seasons.
Collingwood’s defence of small forwards
While Lance Franklin is undoubtedly Hawthorn’s most dangerous forward, the small forwards at the Hawks pose just a big a threat to Collingwood as Franklin.
A weakness in Collingwood’s defence is its ability to shut down the opposition’s small forwards, something that has been evident in the opening two rounds.
First, it was Lindsay Thomas who kicked four goals in Round 1 to be North Melbourne’s most dangerous forward. Then, it was the smalls of Carlton – Chris Yarran, Jeff Garlett and to a lesser extent, Andrew Walker who almost won the game for the Blues.
The trio combined for nine of Carlton’s 15 goals last week as Collingwood struggled to find suitable match ups.
This week, Luke Breust, Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo pose arguably the biggest threat for Collingwood as Nathan Buckley will need to find the best match up for the trio.
Breust and Rioli in particular have been in good form in the opening two rounds – Rioli booted four goals in the win over the Eagles last week.
We all know too, how dangerous Breust is – he was Hawthorn’s second-best goal kicker last year after Lance Franklin.
Where is the game won?
It’s the key every week but contested possessions and clearances is particularly important when both sides have forward lines that are firing.
So far over the opening two rounds, the Hawks are ranked higher than the Pies in these two areas.
The Hawks are ranked third in the league for contested possessions, averaging 155 per game while Collingwood is ranked seventh, with 148.
For clearances, the Hawks are the ninth best side in the league by averaging 39 and Collingwood twelfth, with 35.
By winning those two stats, teams can release their runners into space and get their running game going to catch the opposition defence off guard and isolate their forwards.
Interestingly, despite copping criticism for their perceived lack of pace, Hawthorn is the third best side in the league in racking up uncontested possessions.
Behind only Essendon and Richmond, the Hawks average 225 uncontested possessions per game, critical if they’re to isolate Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and the rest of their forwards against a strong Collingwood defence.
If the Hawks can win the contested ball and the clearances, then the pressure on Collingwood’s defence will be immense as the Hawks forwards will be presented with a number of opportunities to score from forward 50 entries.
Key players
Hawthorn –
Paul Puopolo: He is an underrated player, but the pressure Puopolo applies inside 50 for Hawthorn is one of the big reasons why the Hawks are able to lock the ball inside their forward 50. Despite the stats sheet saying he had only two tackles, his pressure forced the Eagles to turn the ball over when coming out of defence.
Max Bailey: Bailey was impressive against the Eagles last week, breaking even with gun ruckman Dean Cox. When it counted, Bailey gave the Hawks first use out of the middle and were able to drive deep forward to score. With Darren Jolly a likely out with injury, Bailey’s importance sky rockets.
Grant Birchall: It’s baffling how Birchall is allowed to rebound so easily out of defence for Hawthorn, with opposition coaches not putting a defensive forward on the dangerous half back. Perhaps they do though, and the Hawks defence is that good at freeing up the Tasmanian. Either way, if Birchall is at his rebounding best on Sunday, the Hawks are on their way to a big win.
Collingwood –
Jarryd Blair: Blair is one of those underrated players who performs his role week in, week out with little fanfare. He is hard at it, puts his body on the line and kicks goals for Collingwood more often than not. When he plays the well, the Collingwood midfield is firing. Blair has gathered 17 and 20 disposals in the opening two games and kicked three goals. He compliments Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury well.
Ben Reid: The big centre-half back is likely to be thrown the task of manning Hawks star Lance Franklin on Sunday. But, his ability to rebound off half back and use his dynamic left foot to release a teammate on the week is just as important to Collingwood as his ability to shut down big name opponents.
Ben Johnson: When Jordan Russell was struggling on Chris Yarran last week, Johnson was thrown the task by his coach and did an excellent job. He stays close to his man and, is deceptively quick. He could find himself on Luke Breust or Cyril Rioli and one stage or another. His evasive skills and rebound from defensive are important for the Pies too.