The Hawks of tomorrow continue to impress in the club’s scratch matches, with the team putting together another strong showing on Saturday against a merged Port Adelaide/Adelaide outfit.
The brown and gold side got off to a strong start at Adelaide Oval, but while it was Hawks in the clinches, it was a Crow who was able to finish off their handy work – just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder! One of six Adelaide players to don the Hawks’ guernsey for the afternoon, Billy Frampton kicked two opening quarter goals to get his temporary side off to a strong start.
The only Hawk to get on the end of one in the first term was youngster Emerson Jeka, whose hard running saw him alone in the goal square and able to capitalise on a beautiful line-breaking play down the wing from the likes of Mitch Lewis and Paul Puopolo.
After quarter time, Lewis started to ramp things up and assert his impact on the game; it began with a crunching tackle in the centre, with the resulting kick a goal assist to one of the Crows in brown and gold. He then got busy up forward with a contested mark and goal – his first of two for the afternoon.
“It was good to get back involved with all the boys and get a little bit of the footy,” Lewis said after the match.
“In my AFL games earlier this year I didn’t get much of the pill, so I’m just trying to really perform at this level and get my confidence back.”
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Development Coach Andy Otten took the opportunity to trial some positional changes, with Jackson Ross playing in defence and Jacob Koschitzke up forward. Both enjoyed solid performances. Koschitzke’s overhead skills were on display immediately as he took a strong contested grab, followed by a genuine hanger over his opponent. Unfortunately the resulting shot on goal was wayward, but it was exciting signs from the youngster nonetheless.
Damon Greaves was composed in defence, his intelligent decision making on display. Meanwhile through the centre Darren Minchington and Dylan Moore worked hard all day and created lots of opportunities for their teammates, as both look to state their cases for senior selection.
