Hawks think big
Alastair Clarkson is confident his side can combat West Coast ruckmen Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui in Saturday night's blockbuster
CONFIDENT Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has backed his makeshift ruck set-up to beat West Coast stars Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui in Saturday night's AFL clash in Perth.
With the Hawks' injured No.1 ruckman Max Bailey to spend at least two more months on the sidelines and the club overlooking back-up option Broc McCauley, Hawthorn will pit David Hale and Jarryd Roughead against West Coast's big men.
Clarkson said Hale and Roughead performed well against accomplished Adelaide pair Sam Jacobs and Kurt Tippett last round, and there was no reason to assume the Eagles would have an edge in the ruck.
"We think that Hale and Roughead performed that role pretty well for us last week," Clarkson said.
"(West Coast) have got their strengths in that area of the ground.
"But if you look at the clearance rate last week against GWS (Greater Western Sydney), GWS actually won the centre bounce clearance rate.
"So it can't be that Cox and Naitanui were that dominant a ruck combination that it allowed them to be so comprehensive in that area of the ground.
"We'll back our guys in and our midfielders ... we're going into the game thinking our guys are going to at least be able to match them and may be able to defeat them in a lot of areas of the game."
Clarkson said West Coast's depth of tall forwards could turn out to be an advantage for Hawthorn if the Hawks could bring the ball to ground enough and use their run.
"They're going with their strategy, we're going with ours and hopefully we can spoil enough balls to allow it to be a threat for us," he said.
Known as a precision kicking side, Clarkson suggested the Hawks might have to up the handball rate slightly to combat West Coast's forward press.
"It's a long oval, so you need to keep the ball on the flow when you can," he said.
He said while undefeated West Coast were in good form, the Hawks were "quietly confident".
The Eagles regain captain Darren Glass and midfield pair Matt Priddis and Matt Rosa, who all sat out the Giants game, while the Hawks will debut athletic draftee Bradley Hill.
