It’s difficult to watch this West Coast Eagles team and come up with cool and insightful things to say. They were nowhere when the game was to be contested, only somewhat in the contest due to some genuinely terrible conversion from a Hawks team having an off day, and you can make the argument that the entire second half was garbage time, and even then, the nicest thing you can say about them is that they were competitive at times.
The six goal half-time margin was only eight goals at full time, you might say. That’s evidence that they slowed Hawthorn down, you also might say, though that’s contingent on you saying the first thing and therefore, somewhat unlikely. This was a pretty ordinary performance from a good Hawthorn team, and they still won by 50.
It’s just hard to know what any of it means.
What does it mean to play okay and lose by 50? / What does it mean to play badly and win by 50?
This is kinda the question that hangs over everything. Hawthorn remembered they were a football team late in the fourth quarter, after a couple of Eagles goals that cut the margin to a mere 34 points and threatened to make the final result respectable. A worse team would’ve realised what was coming at half time and funnelled all of their offence through Jack Gunston, who finished today with 499 career goals, but Sam Mitchell saw that his team would be better serviced in the long run by trialling players out of position to see what might have legs when a game is alive.
That team-first mentality is as likely to get this team to where they know they can get to as any individual performance. This game is one they’re probably going to dissect in quite a harsh light, because you can’t be that inaccurate when the lights are at their brightest (yes, the Grand Final is a day game. You get the point.)
For West Coast, I’m not sure that it CAN mean anything. They’ve won two quarters this entire year. They’ve played 28 quarters. They’re yet to win a quarter that isn’t the opening quarter of a game. They couldn’t even win a quarter today, when the Hawks’ cue was in the rack for two of them. If you play OK, probably even above average when you view the season as a whole, and still lose by 50 the only way to engender motivation is to look at momentary wins, of which there are several, and try and find something to hang your hat on as the season progresses.
Stats
This was, statistically, an above average West Coast performance. Today’s 11.8.74 is noticeably better than their season average (rounded) 9.9.63. Entire percentage points better. They also recorded 50 inside 50s, up on a season average of 44. For reference, Hawthorn only had 56 inside 50s, but recorded 34 scoring shots to West Coast’s 19. Hawthorn almost doubled the scoring output from only six additional forward 50 entries. Probably due to the Hawks snagging 17 additional marks inside 50 (23 to 6) – substantially easier to turn an entry into a shot on target if it’s marked, for obvious reasons.
Hawthorn also dominated possessions, recording 81 more total possessions than West Coast. Additionally, they recorded significantly more kicks, an indicator that they were getting more out of their ball use than West Coast were. Ten Hawks recorded 10+ kicks, and the ten represent players all around the ground – both wingers, sure, obviously Sicily, but Chol, Battle, Ginnivan show up right at the top of the chart in this game. Because of the distance covered and ability to record a mark, generally I would consider kicks more damaging than handballs, and therefore more kicks = more better.
Five Eagles recorded 10 or more kicks, all of whom were defenders or in primarily defensive assignments, which tells you a bit about where the ball was living for the majority of the game.
Good (West Coast)
They have players that give a damn. There’s mongrel somewhere in this roster, and I think that they’ll get a win out of sheer frustration if they let themselves.
At their worst, West Coast felt like spectators in this football game. There were passages where it seemed like Hawthorn would generate inside 50s that resulted in shots on goal, the shot on goal would be worth six or one or zero points, and then they’d do it again. Like a training session. Occasionally the ground would bristle with the idea that there was another football team out there trying to impede this procession of inside 50, shot, score- but it felt like this theoretical other team had no say on proceedings. When the game was unfolding in this way, it truly felt that if Hawthorn were to lose this game, it would be by beating themselves.
You can acknowledge that and also acknowledge that there’s some mongrel. The Eagles looked particularly insipid in the second quarter, where Hawthorn got vengeance on themselves for kicking 2.8 in the first quarter by kicking 7.2. More on that later. This is the bit about West Coast.
The good is that some of these kids are making it happen. Although I acknowledged that the improved performance in the second half feels like it doesn’t count for much, they still Did It. The 18 players on the pitch still made it happen, which shows that they want to get better. This game never got particularly close, but it felt like West Coast might make it spicy with a couple of quick goals towards the end of the third with goals through Harley Reid and Matt Owies. The Eagles have dangerous small forwards, and there’s a world where they give a slightly less accurate Hawthorn team hell by pinballing the ball in the Ryan/Owies/Reid/Cripps direction and making Hawthorn’s big defenders try and play on the ground. This isn’t that world, but you can see signs to indicate signs that this might happen. The same can be said for their leading disposal getters Maric, Baker and Hough – not the blokes you want to be seeing all of the ball, sure, but they used it well when they had it. There was one particularly interesting passage of play in the first where they moved the ball coast to coast exclusively through handpasses and offball movement, like an old fashioned three man weave, that led to a scoring shot. A behind, to be sure, but a good slick passage of play that cut a team apart.
Reuben Ginbey is starting to get it. He’s still a midfielder learning to be a key defender, but he wants to be out there and wants to succeed. Almost wrote wants to win, but honestly playing hard for this team is enough. He goes out there, tries, gets beaten, learns, gets better, tries again the next week. It’s ugly at times but if they’re committed to making him a defender, or a defender with the goal of him becoming an interior bull, I’m starting to see the vision.
Also, Harley Reid was so, so shiny. Shiniest player I’ve ever seen. Glistened more than Buddy ever did. This is Adama Traore amounts of sheen.
FROM THE CHEAP SEATS – HB at the game
What jumped out most to me from the cheap seats… or not-so-cheap-seats when you’re paying for multiple people to attend, is that West Coast don’t run to create for each other. They jog, and this was particularly evident in the first quarter. At this point of the game, the players should be up and about, ready to run through a brick wall for the jumper. However, what I continued to see is that few were willing to work hard to find space, and it was generally on a broken play that the Eagles were able to break through the Hawthorn defensive setup.
Matt mentioned Ginbey, above – yes, he looks like he wants some to come with him, as he takes the game on. It did look as though he was making it up on the fly here and there, and that’s fine to me – at least he was making SOMETHING up.
I am worried that Matt Flynn as a ruckman just poses more questions than he answers. I had high hopes for him, but he was destryed by Lloyd Meek early on, and only started to find the footy at all after halftime. The search continues for West Coast.
Finally, I sat just behind a group of Eagles supporters, who were happy to have a chat. They know where their team is at, and they are looking for bright lights here and there. After the first quarter, one turned to me and said “it’s pretty f’n dark in here right now”. At that point, I mentioned the Hawks’ terrible kicking at goal, and his face brightened.
I have a lot of respect for Eagles fans who are travelling to support their team in its current form. They’re not a fun team to watch, but you could see some signs, if you choose to look. The third quarter pressure was a big improvement, and it paid dividends. Where was this effort earlier? It could have turned this contest into a real arm-wrestle?
Finally, I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Tyrell Dewar does not know how to play on the wing. It’s just not his spot. He is consistently out of position, is often slow to react when the play switches, and doesn’t hold his width enough to give the Eagles a viable option when they move the ball from defence. It is something I have noted when watching on TV, but seeing it live confirmed it for me – he is not suited to the role. Stop playing him there!
Good (Hawthorn)
I really admire Sam Mitchell’s commitment to working out what he has, and in a game where you’ve got it basically wrapped up it’s time to move those magnets around. We saw some of the classics – Hardwick up both ends, Sicily up both ends, Weddle and Worpel wherever they want to be, Ginnivan a bit more on the ball. We also saw a bit of Watson on the ball, culminating in a four bounce run from arc to arc that resulted in a goal assist, and a full quarter of Barrass at full forward. This might’ve been mind games from Mitchell, playing the fourth quarter 17 on 18 as Barrass didn’t get a touch, but they were never going to lose even if the gamble failed. You might as well have a crack.
It’s also never bad to have this many bites at the cherry. 34 scoring shots in a vacuum is very good, and even if the resultant output isn’t great (add on a shot from Watson that didn’t make the distance and one from Chol that he sprayed) it was still enough for a comfortable win. Gunston’s four should probably have been six, Chol’s three could’ve been six, and Connor Macdonald kicked three behinds before kicking two in the fourth (one from a 50m penalty he couldnt’ve missed, granted, but they all count). You like to think that they learn from their misses.
The aforementioned second quarter. This was the best they played, and that’s probably because this is the only time there was any real pressure to do well. Their first quarter was serviceable but their execution sucked. A quarter where you generate 10 scoring shots is fantastic, but they wound up with one of the worst possible returns from those. They came out in the second sharper. The forward line set around Chol and Gunston, the play was more intentional, the service was more deliberate, and the execution was significantly better. But that’s because they were playing themselves, like when you try and beat your own ghost in Mario Kart.
FROM THE CHEAP SEATS – HB at the game
Can a win be solid, yet unconvincing, at the same time?
The Hawks played blue and gold witches hats in the first quarter, and failed to capitalise.
They did create opportunity, however, and that is someting I did like seeing. Their ball use was far superior, and the way they continually left that ‘teasing’ distance between them and their opponent, did work to get the Eagles to try kicks they may not have been entirely convinced they’d make.
A very solid first-up effort from Henry Hustwaite, who had a huge third quarter, before being shifted to a half-back flank. He managed to stand up in tackles, dish off, and became a vital link in the chain for the Hawks.
The vision of the Hawks stood out in this one. And not just the vision, but the way the skills were able to turn that vision into a reality. You could see the structure of the Hawthorn forwards open up for each other. Gunston, Chol, Weddle… they all got clean runs at it, and with Jeremy McGovern unable to be everywhere, their varied attack was driving him nuts.
Sicily was a tough one to assess. He was ordinary in the first half – lazy kicks and poorly thought-out decisions with the ball, almost brought his team undone. but he rose to the occasion when the Hawks were under the most pressure they encountered in the third, taking three intercepts, and becoming more focused when he delivered the footy.
And finally, Mabior Chol had a great game, except for the conversion. He timed his leads well, which were honoured well, and was both a monster when attacking the ball in flight, as well as his second efforts on the deck – this has been something some have been critical of.
I’ll rephrase that.
This is something I have been critical of, so to see him play in this manner was gratifying.
