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Round 3: Hawthorn v Adelaide
Hawthorn 5.3 10.7 15.9 21.14 (140)                 
Adelaide 4.3 6.8 9.10 12.12 (84)         

Goals: Hawthorn: Breust 3, Franklin 3, Suckling 2, Hale 2, Lewis 2, Rioli 2, Whitecross, Burgoyne, Cheney, Gunston, Osborne, Shiels, Mitchell.
Adelaide: Tippett 3, Callinan 3, Lynch 2, Porplyzia, Doughty, Vince, Reilly

Best: Hawthorn: Gibson, Lewis, Franklin, Whitecross, Suckling, Guerra, Breust
Adelaide: Thompson, Dangerfield, Callinan, Doughty, Jacobs

Crowd: 33,524 at the MCG

The Hawks snapped the Crows’ unbeaten opening to 2012, with a stunning 56-point win over this year’s night premiers.

The Hawks’ ability to rebound off half back was the catalyst for the win, with Josh Gibson, Grant Birchall, Brent Guerra and Ryan Schoenmakers all able to find a loose teammate in the midfield. The quick rebound from defence, combined with the Hawks’ supreme foot skills meant that it was difficult for the Crows to transition into defence, as the Hawks moved the ball quickly and precisely by hand and foot. Importantly, the Hawks led the rebound from 50 stat 32 to 23 at the end of the match.

Keeping the Crows to only 23 rebounds from 50 had coach Alastair Clarkson happy, with the Crows possessing a number of damaging runners on their half backline in Brent Reilly and Graham Johncock. The pressure from the Hawks forwards, in particular Luke Breust, Michael Osborne and Cyril Rioli was pivotal in the Hawks ability not only to limit the Crows run from defence, but also in locking the ball inside the forward 50, creating scoring opportunities and pressure on the Crows back six.

In the second quarter, the Hawks were able to up their pressure around the packs, and tackle their opponents with great intent. The Hawks led the tackle count in the second - 16 to 12. The Crows, however, were getting their hands on the ball in contested situations first, and by an overwhelming amount. At half time, the Crows had 75 contested possessions to the Hawks’ 59. More importantly though, the Hawks’ ability to use their speed and spread was extremely damaging and led to an uncontested possession stat lead of 151 to 75. That differential is something that is almost unheard of, and is testament to the Hawks’ gut running and the work of the half backs to spot up their teammates in space.

The Hawks running ability off half back could prove to be the side’s biggest weapon, with Gibson, Birchall, Burgoyne and Guerra all possessing great speed and skill coming out of defence. At the end of all three quarters, the Hawks half backs were leading the Hawks disposals and finished the game with 30 (Gibson), 27 (Guerra), 22 (Schoenmakers), 21 (Stratton), 20 (Suckling), 19 (Birchall, before being subbed at three-quarter time). Impressively, those high numbers were combined with an average disposal efficiency across the six players of 83 per cent, and no player with a rating below 74 per cent.

At the end of the day, the Hawks were able to get their hands on the ball more often that their opponents, with the Hawks dominating the possession count 407 to 304 a massive 103 differential. This margin, combined with the Hawks supreme skills (a disposal efficiency rating of 70 per cent to the Crows 68) ensured that the Hawks were making the most of their domination of possession by hitting targets. That ability is illustrated by the number of marks the Hawks had, compared to the Crows at the end of the game, a massive 140 to 52.

What Alastair Clarkson said: “They’re (Adelaide) a tough, hard unit, (Patrick) Dangerfield is a very good player, (Scott) Thompson, (Rory) Sloane, their in and under players gave them first look at the footy, but I’m really pleased we were able to tackle well and force them into some errors that gave us some turnover opportunities.

“We were very mindful that we didn’t want that (an Adelaide loose man) occurring all game, it happened at different stages but we just needed to make sure that those two players in particular (Reilly and Johncock) weren’t strong rebounders for them.”