COACH Alastair Clarkson says Friday night’s blockbuster against the Eagles will be a preview of what to expect from the 2012 finals series.
A win for both the Hawks and Eagles is paramount given the affect it will have on the positrions in which both teams will qualify for the finals.
A win for Hawthorn secures the minor premiership, and more importantly, a home final.
For the Eagles, a win against the Hawks means a top-four spot and the double chance.
Clarkson expects the match to be played like a final - tough, hard and contested.
“It’s going to be a great contest and probably just pre-empt what’s going to probably happen in the finals,” Clarkson said at the Ricoh Centre on Thursday.
“[They’re both] tough, hard side who are very talented.
“We’ll have another chance to test ourselves against a really good opposition tomorrow [Friday] night.”
Clarkson believes that his side’s run into the finals is a good one, facing teams that are also “vying for the premiership”.
He says it gives his side another opportunity to test itself against the best teams in the competition ahead of what could be one of the most anticipated finals series in recent years.
“This game is all about pushing your boundaries and overcoming challenges, and this is just another one of them,” he said.
“We had a significant challenge last week and so did West Coast, playing Collingwood over there [in Perth].
“You’re confronted with these sorts of obstacles all the time and it’s how you deal with them [that matters].
“It’s a great build up into the finals series for us.”
With West Coast ruckmen Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox in good form, one of Hawthorn’s biggest challenges on Friday night will be its ability to nullify their influence.
The Hawks coach, however, isn’t getting too caught up in the Eagles ruck-mania.
“The attitude that we take is, that if these guys were unstoppable, then they [West Coast] wouldn’t have been defeated this season,” he said.
“Somewhere along the lines, some sides have been able to do well enough against them that they’ve been able to take the points away from them.”
Clarkson admits that planning will go into negating the Eagles’ game style, but the Hawks will also be focused on playing to its own strengths.
“They’re a good side and they have been all year,” he said.
“We just need to be very mindful of trying to negate some of their weapons, but also try to expose them for some with some of the strengths we’ve got in our side.”
Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club’s Digital media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre.
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