Hawthorn will embrace the prospect to go toe-to-toe with Carlton’s high-profile midfield as they try and spark an AFL upset.
The Hawks get an opportunity on the MCG on Sunday to reply to their thumping loss to Gold Coast once they sort out the Blues, who beat the Suns earlier than the bye to chop quick a troubling run of type.
Skipper Patrick Cripps and hard-running midfielder Sam Walsh will probably be essential to Carlton, however Hawthorn have some sturdy on-ballers of their very own, specifically Will Day, Jai Newcombe and James Worpel.
“Their midfield obviously bats really deep – they’ve got a lot of really good players,” Hawks coach Sam Mitchell advised reporters.
“Walsh and Cripps are the two names that come up in lights
“But the extra I scouted them this week, the extra I realised what number of essential gamers are there.
“(Sam) Docherty, and (Blake) Acres and guys like that continue to be really strong with them and so consistent in the way they behave and go about things.
“We know Carlton at their finest are a extremely potent aspect and we have to do what we will to restrict them.”
Mitchell stressed he needed a lift from his midfielders generally.
“We received nicely crushed within the midfield final week,” he stated.
“Unfortunately the final month our mids have not been as sturdy as they had been within the earlier a part of the yr.”
Hawthorn have called upon veteran forward-midfielder Chad Wingard for his first game since round nine, while young midfielder Josh Ward and Fergus Greene have been recalled.
Day spent time in defence in James Sicily’s suspension-enforced absence against the Suns but is unlikely to start there.
“He’ll begin as a midfielder however we all know he is received nice flexibility in his recreation and we will transfer him round as we have to at totally different instances,” Mitchell stated.
“He’s been taking part in a extremely essential function for us by the center of the sector however he is a extremely sturdy participant wherever he performs.”
Young forward Jacob Koschitzke has been dropped after struggling to clunk marks and consistently convert, with the Hawks eyeing a different attacking mix.
“We have not been capable of hit the scoreboard,” Mitchell stated.
“Last week Gold Coast took 28 intercept marks, 22 of them had been in our ahead half.
“We’ve done a bit of work this week on our forward-50 entries as well as our contest work in front of the ball.
“… We want extra contests in entrance of the ball.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
