The Hawks face the Bombers for the first time this season, leaving the last time the two teams met all the way back in Round 14 of last season. On that night, it was the Hawks who prevailed over the old arch-rivals.
The result - Round 14, 2011
Hawthorn 6.2 14.4 19.6 23.8 (146)
Essendon 3.2 4.3 8.6 12.9 (81)
Goals: Hawthorn - Shiels 3, Smith 3, Savage 3, Osborne 3, Rioli 2, Hale 2, Lewis 2, Suckling 2, Hodge, Cheney, Whitecross
Essendon - Jetta 3, Davey 2, Stanton 2, Hocking, Bellchambers, Howlett, Melksham, Zaharakis
Best: Hawthorn - Birchall, Shiels, Hodge, Hale, Smith, Lewis, Mitchell
Essendon - Hocking, Jetta, Stanton, Heppell, Zaharakis
Crowd: 64,537 at the MCG
It was an injury-plagued match the last time the Hawks faced the Bombers, with a total of five players leaving the field with injuries. For the Hawks, it was Cyril Rioli and Brad Sewell who suffered injuries, while the Bombers lost skipper Jobe Watson, Sam Lonergan and David Myers to injury. Both teams will be hoping for a better outcome on the injury front this time around.
Similiarly, however, the Hawks look likely to again to be without spearhead Lance Franklin for a clash with Essendon. Franklin missed the Round 14 clash last season in which the Hawks systematically dismantled James Hird’s men by a crushing 65 points on a wintery Friday night at the MCG.
Being without their main man up forward, however, didn’t bother the Hawks as they marched to a big win over the arch-rival with a total of 11 individual goal kickers.
A crushing eight goal to one second quarter set up the win for the Hawks, while limiting the Bombers to just one goal and two scoring shots for the quarter.
It was the Hawks young brigade who impressed, with Isaac Smith, Shane Savage and Liam Shiels all booting three goals each while also providing run from the midfield.
Sam Mitchell was as prominent as he ever is, gathering 38 touches and nine clearances to be one of the dominant midfielders on the ground along with partner Jordan Lewis (29 possessions).
The Hawks backline was at its stingy best, and was as damaging as ever when turning defence into attack. Grant Birchall was arguably best afield with 33 disposals and 12 marks while providing great run off half back.
Josh Gibson (25 possessions) and Matt Suckling (31) were also prolific in the back half, forming the nucleus of an indestructible wall across the Hawthorn half backline.
For the Bombers, Brent Stanton was best with 31 disposals, while David Zaharakis (31 touches, one goal) and Leroy Jetta (three goals) were best for Essendon.
What the coaches said:
Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson - "We knew that if we were able to get the ball to ground level we'd give ourselves a really good chance in terms of our run, and that's the way the game panned out in the first half.”
Essendon’s James Hird - "Particularly in the second quarter, we didn't look like getting (the ball) off them. Once they had a couple of possessions they opened us up through the middle of the ground.”
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Read the match preview, Looking ahead to Essendon to find out how the Hawks can beat the Bombers.
