IN THE words of Alastair Clarkson “it was a pretty uninspiring game”, but the Hawks’ coach was satisfied with the endeavour of his younger players during a hard-fought two-point win over Sydney on Sunday.   

Xavier Ellis, Beau Muston, Tom Murphy, Travis Tuck and Grant Birchall were all prominent during the first-round NAB Cup clash.

“They did some good things throughout the course of the game and showed us that they will be future players for us and that’s really important,” Clarkson said.

“A lot of those guys have been on our list now for 12 months to two years and they’re looking for their opportunity to play regular senior footy. If they make the most of their opportunities over the next few weeks then they’ve got every chance to start in round one.

“We probably had six or eight guys who were having their first taste of footy at the [higher] level and to play against such a disciplined unit like Sydney is really good experience for those young kids.”

Clarkson said some of the more experienced players that were rested for the match would gradually be brought into the side over the coming weeks, but maintained youth would continue to be the focus of the pre-season campaign.

“Pretty much the attitude we had to this week’s game was to give some younger players an opportunity and if we progress – terrific – and if we didn’t – as long as they got the exposure to the level, that was really important,” he said.

“We’ll continue to take that approach, but if we continue to progress through the NAB Cup on that basis then the further you progress, the bigger the games become and the greater the experience for the younger players.”

Clarkson was unfazed by the scrappy nature of the game, noting high-scoring contests were rare in the often-windy conditions at Aurora Stadium.

“We didn’t play all that great,” he admitted. “But the two sides, with the intensity and the way that they had a crack; neither side could really get an advantage going inside the forward-50 and it was a game really played between the arcs.

“That’s a common type of game against Sydney and we’re pleased we can just move on to round two.”

Neither of the Hawks’ two tall-marking options in Lance Franklin and Tim Boyle scored a goal on the day with Franklin booting five behinds and Boyle two.

“We’re just pleased that we got it inside there enough and had enough shots on goal,” Clarkson said of his wayward tall timber.

“But we need to put in some work on our conversion. Hopefully we'll be just a little bit less rusty next week than what we were today.

“[Franklin] will come around, he’s had days like that before when it didn’t work for him, but they’re tough conditions down here to play in and he’ll continue to work on his game.”