Hawthorn have gone down the rabbit gap as they struggle to ensure final Saturday’s horrible first half just isn’t repeated.
Port Adelaide dropped a club-record 16.9 on the Hawks within the opening half, blowing the rebuilding facet away per week after Hawthorn’s upset AFL win over St Kilda.
On Saturday the Hawks host Brisbane, one other in-form facet with AFL premiership credentials, and coach Sam Mitchell stated the problem can be to study their classes rapidly.
“We went into the depths. We went all the way into the rabbit hole of the first half and worked out why we weren’t able to compete with a team as good as Port Adelaide,” Mitchell stated.
“It doesn’t mean we won’t be able to the next time and that’s our challenge.
“We’re all the time speaking about pushing requirements. What will we require? What does a premiership normal appear like? What does a top-four normal appear like?
“And we got a taste of it from a team that has won nine in a row. Some of the things we’ve been getting away with, we didn’t in that game.”
As the younger Hawks enter the chilly, exhausting days of June-July, the Port-Brisbane double will check their resilience.
Hawthorn no less than didn’t wilt, outscoring the Power within the second half at Adelaide Oval, though the consequence was a formality.
“Can we play our A-game against a really good team – If you watched our highlights (from the first half against Port) … you’d say ‘this team has got some good things in their game’,” Mitchell stated.
“But consistently, over an hour of footy in the first half, we just couldn’t do it often enough and withstand their pressure often enough.
“So towards Brisbane, you’ll wish to see their consistency of making an attempt to play the fitting method and getting away with it extra usually and play in a fashion that is actually going to problem them.
The Hawks can be boosted by the return of captain James Sicily from his one-game suspension, however misplaced fellow key defender Sam Frost to a foot harm that has restricted him since spherical two.
“He needed a little bit longer break to get it right … give him a bit of a circuit breaker now,” Mitchell stated.
He expects Frost to return after their bye, which follows the Lions match.
There was good news on Thursday morning, with in-form utility Jarman Impey signing a three-year deal.
Apart from Impey’s return to kind after scuffling with harm, his optimisim and power have been essential.
“He’s such an energy giver to the rest of our group. Every time something doesn’t go well, he’s one of the guys saying ‘yeah, but we can do this?'” Mitchell stated
“We talked to the players about who went down the rabbit hole in the first half and just couldn’t stop thinking negatively, and who was thinking about the second half – ‘no, we came back and it was really good stuff’.
“He was firmly within the second group.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
