Maybe Sam Mitchell ought to “drag” James Sicily extra typically.
The Hawthorn captain produced one of many particular person performances of the AFL season on Saturday, racking up 42 disposals in defence and main his staff to a shocking 10-point upset of St Kilda.
Sicily additionally had 21 intercept possessions and eight intercept marks – however Mitchell smiled post-match and stated his skipper’s sport was solely 95 per cent full.
At one stage, he took Sicily off for some poor self-discipline, with Mitchell saying the backman “lost his way a little bit”.
Otherwise, the coach lavished reward on his captain.
“It’s the best individual game I’ve coached a player in,” he stated.
“It was as good a game as I’ve seen from an individual player.
“Every time it seemed like we had been breached and so they had been going to attain, if Sicily was within the space, we had been OK.”
The win was important for Hawthorn, on and off the field.
On-field, they are in the midst of a significant rebuild.
They have looked good in patches this season, but too often have shot themselves in the foot.
Their 4.10 to halftime, when they were dominating play, looked like being another chapter in that story.
But Hawthorn stuck at it and eventually stormed past the Saints for their third win.
Off-field, the Hawks are mired in the fallout from the racism saga.
It is three days since chief executive Justin Reeves resigned, in no small part worn out by the toll of the controversy.
“Being capable of make the 80,000 (Hawks members) pleased with what they see – we have no management over the skin noise,” Mitchell stated.
“What now we have management over is the intent that our followers see, and even when we hadn’t gained that sport, each Hawthorn particular person … stated, ‘That’s a staff that play for one another and work onerous and so they love their colors’.
“I was really proud of our strength of character, to be able to play the right way, regardless of external noise.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
