TipResumen

OVERVIEW

Alastair Clarkson had a perfect game plan against the Tigers and just went I thought the old Master did it again, his side let him down in the 2nd half. The Hawks were very well set up in the first half but had some shocking miss in front of goal from their more reliable players. Had they took those chances and have a lead heading into half time, I think the Hawks would have been in the game right down to the wire. Melbourne on the other hand came off the blocks flying against Geelong. Their first quarter was superb and if we were to judge Melbourne based on the first quarter alone, I believe they would be joint favorites alongside Tigers to win the flag this year. However, the lack of finals experience came into the game in the 2nd and 3rd quarter where they only managed one goal. The Demons seems very nervous in those periods when they played on when they should have slowed the game down or slowed the tempo down when they should have played on. Nevertheless, Simon Goodwin’s side did really well not to lose the lead having manage only a single goal in two quarters and I believe the players would have benefited from such experience. The Hawks did well by keeping Jack Riewoldt goalless, but Tigers did not have a big marking forward that the Hawks needed to worry about. With Ben Stratton likely to be out, the Hawks this week have to deal with Tom McDonald and Sam Weideman who are good markers of the ball and it will be hard for the Hawks to win the one v one battle with them. Max Gawn had a decent game against the Cats but I believe Gawn has more to offer to Melbourne. Gawn only had 11 disposals last week and I expect him to play a bigger role this week against the Hawks. Gawn will likely have the edge against McEvoy in the ruck and if he could make McEvoy run with him, he should wear McEvoy down midway through the 3rd quarter. Jordan Lewis who had a decent game against Geelong last week should play an even bigger role this week in my opinion. While there are few versions of the story to why Lewis left the Hawks, I believe that Lewis will want to tell his old team that he still had plenty to offer and I do believe that Lewis can play an important role against the Hawks by getting his team to play the right tempo at the right time. As good as a season Tom Mitchell has had, Mitchell in the past few weeks have failed to influence the game the way we expect him to. Nathan Jones was given the task in round 4 to shut Mitchell and it did work to a certain extent, limiting Mitchell to 24 disposals but Nathan Jones himself was unable to influence his team in any way. Therefore, I believe Goodwin may get try with James Harmes on Mitchell and allow Jones to play his usual role.



VERDICT

It is always dangerous to write off the Hawks but as the game went on last week against Richmond, the Hawks seemed to lost their shape and more importantly identity. Alastair Clarkson had a game plan and it worked well early on but as soon as the Tigers identify their plan and alter the game plan and apply “Tigers pressure”, the Hawks collapse completely in the 2nd half. Simon Goodwin’s side may lack finals experience and it was clear in the 2nd half of the game where they were calling out the wrong plays. At times they were slowing the ball down when they should have hit the Cats hard on the bounce or vice versa. However, Melbourne demonstrated against Geelong that are hungry, in fact very hungry. If the first quarter against Geelong is a sign of what is to come from this Melbourne side, then I believe they will go all the way. The Hawks are definitely well position to pounce should the Melbourne make rookie finals mistakes, but despite making some of those mistaken this Melbourne team in my view have too much to offer. Clayton Oliver, Angus Brayshaw, James Harmes, Mitch Hannan, Sam Weideman, Jack Viney and Max Gawn with veteran Nathan Jones are a great midfield combination. They in my view have what it takes to out muscle the Hawks. To name a few - McEvoy, Ceglar, Puopolo, Roughead, Breust, Gunston, Impey Burton and Burgoyne all had poor games. I expect them improve on that, especially the more senior players but in finals, its hard to transition from a bad week to a good week with a flick of a finger. Some will want to make amends for their mistaken and likely to do “too much” resulting in disturbing the regular team flow. The Hawks will want to bounce back, without a double, however their quality in all departments of the field will be challenged. A free-flowing attacking Melbourne will definitely come up top against Hawthorn. An above average Melbourne should also come up top against Hawthorn. Only a poor and disappointing Melbourne performance should see the Hawks into yet another Preliminary Finals.