Hawthorn Football Club is looking ahead to a huge make or break game against the Western Bulldogs next Thursday. Having just suffered three consecutive defeats, these results have raised doubts inside the camp. The most recent blow to that promise followed their loss to Collingwood, which saw them trounced 16.11 to 8.8. A riveting contest ushered in an unbelievable crowd of 83,706 people. The Hawks struggled to match their opponent’s offensive pace throughout the game.
After the loss to Collingwood, Hawthorn players participated in a closed meeting where they shared “hard truths” about their current performance. Head coach Sam Mitchell immediately ordered the players to take their mouthguards to practice straight from the game. That’s why the session dove deep on this critical ask. Further reinforcing the need for the team to regroup and figure out a fix within their recent failures, this ask became Chapter 4.
Mitchell admitted that the side had been “miles off it,” especially in the contested possession and tackle counts. The coach was highly regarded and passionate about Hawthorn going back to fundamentals. To do so, it requires them to increase pressure and create turnovers in their front half. Mitchell stated, “We’ve got some work to do where we can get our players in positions to tackle more often, because you’re not going to beat a side like that if you can only lay 38 tackles.”
Jack Ginnivan was one of Hawthorn’s best players in their win over Collingwood on Sunday. He dropped a lot of knowledge about the discussions taking place between his fellow players. Players were self-critical, ’fessing up that the Bears’ recent output has not come close to their established high standards.
“It went for a while, just around standards that we are holding each other to, it is obviously not good enough in the last three rounds so getting back to basics and bring the mouthguards to training on Tuesday and put the head over the footy and have a crack, so basic stuff,” – Jack Ginnivan
Player-led discussions like this, Ginnivan said, are key, as that’s when you usually start to get the best reactions from the guys. He remarked, “At the start, it was just players telling some hard truths and we like doing that as a club, and we always respond well to that, so hopefully we do.”
Through it all, Ginnivan sounded focused on doing better as they look ahead to their next match against the Bulldogs. “We only have six days until the Dogs and they are flying, so we are going to get stuck into them. Keep moving forward,” he said.
Just how bad Hawthorn’s season has been is breathtaking. They’ve only just eked out a win against one of the other top-eight teams – the Giants. As they look ahead to their clash with the Bulldogs, who are currently in form, the team knows they must improve their gameplay significantly.
Mitchell reiterated the urgency for improvement, stating, “I think it was pretty clear to everyone here and those watching at home that we’re, at this point, miles off it.” The coach’s comments above do a good job of portraying the sense of urgency that is apparently dawning on this club, but more on that below.
