Hawthorn have kicked 4.18 against us this year… we’ve kicked 12.12.
It hasn’t just been bad luck — their way into their forward fifty just hasn’t set up enough reliably-convertible chances. Gardner and Lennox (replacing Crook) were solid today down back, and Julian admirably replaced AshleyCooper in the scrap to stop them converting. CBomb may not have won every single one-on-one contest today but geez she makes it hard for the opposition.
In the middle there wasn’t much in it. We lost THE league’s disposal machine and perfect-for-the-conditions player early on and we really struggled for most of the game to get it forward in any way that would create a score. The Hawks had monster backup to their monster Dudley in the ruck, but Nalder swung the dual a tad her way compared to the game four weeks ago. Simone had some ol’ unco moments today (not alone, given how wet it was) but scrapped hard. Her hard fast lead from full forward early in that last quarter that led to the Frew goal was everything we’d missed all day. Despite the wet conditions we kept both a ruck (mostly Stepnell) and Clifford forward for the second half to keep the bench free for midfield rotation.
When we threw Frew into the middle upon Nanscawen’s departure she had an immediate impact: but we rolled the die and left her forward in the last, because she is sooooo good at creating opportunities. It paid off – Barba getting off the leash in the last was a big part of that.
We struggled forward. Like the Port Melbourne game, that was a mix of poor delivery and the forwards themselves. Friswell isn’t a CHF, and early on she trailed to many balls but then applied the required pressure to at least draw the contest. As the game went on she stepped up and was a play creator. We’d dropped a “tall” in Quigley (she’s not that tall, but she’s powerful and clunks marks) – Clifford scrapped a couple goals but not by being a KPP. Nattie was invisible in the first three quarters, and then cut loose.
Frew… she’s a freak. One day everything will come right and she’ll kick 6+ goals (and probably hand that many off as well).
It was a hard day; the upgraded Hawks were probably a tiny bit better for the first three quarters, but we blew it apart in the last. Huge win; the type that gets you into, and hopefully through, finals.
The grandstand was mostly Essendon and we got LOUD in the last quarter and a bit.