Time to Write Some History
Writing the preamble for most games it is relatively easy to find some drama, heat and/or commonality between the two combatants; however, it is a struggle to find a theme to link the Hawks and the Suns.
Mabior Chol aside (who is out injured anyway), I am not sure how the AFL and Hawthorn would sell this game to residents of Launceston to entice to them to spend a lazy Saturday sunny afternoon at the University of Tasmania Stadium cheering on the Hawks, or the Suns.
The only real selling point for this match is both teams have had good starts to the season and there is a chance they will meet again at the pointy end of the season.
The ladder position of both teams is the selling point, especially as this match is debatably the game of the round.
If the Hawks win, they will position themselves in the upper echelon of the ladder with the Dockers (they will win) and the Swans (they have won already this round).
I said earlier both teams have had a good start to season, however, if the Suns fail to secure the win, their start to season 2026 goes from good to reasonable, and they will be back with the chasing pack. I’ll go further, for the Suns to make the top four at the end of the season, they will need to win games like this away from home.
The Hawks have an amazing winning record at UTAS, not losing a game there since players wore hand knitted woollen jumpers with homemade numbers sown on the back.
The heat is on the Suns who need a win against another contender on the road, and in adverse conditions.
Sometimes the game itself sells the game to the masses.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
Like many other unsettled players before him, who have struggled with the intense non-stop pressure in the Victorian football furnace, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has the opportunity to resurrect his career at a club north of the Murray River, free of the scrutiny of the seven days a week relentless media machine in the southern states.
Hats off to Damien Hardwick and the recruiting staff at the Suns for giving Jamarra another chance to fulfil his potential in a new environment.
Take the Suns’ olive branch, Jamarra, and be the best, mercurial, team-orientated player you can be. Enjoy your footy, and more importantly, cherish the anonymity in your personal life that Surfers Paradise affords you.
Everybody loves a comeback story.
The UTAS Upgrade
Aesthetically, the broadcast of this game looked a bit bland with UTAS being upgraded for when the Devils gain enrty to the competition. From an audience point of view, it may have been a better visual image to have the commentator’s box and the main cameras on the same wing as the renovations, with the packed stands in background.
Of course, that would mean some pretty significant shifting and changing. Alas, we’re stuck with a construction zone as a backdrop.
Jack the Bloody Ripper – Game Review
When the final siren finally sounded to end this clash, it showed the Hawks had won easily by 49-points, however, the margin should have been greater. The Hawks kicked 16 behinds to match their 16 goals, and at least five of the Hawks behinds could have/should have been goals.
In the first quarter, led by Jarman Impey, Josh Weddle and Finn Maginness, the Hawks were all over a lacklustre Suns outfit who seemed a bit off their tucker. If the Hawks had been taken all their opportunities in the first quarter, it would have been game over instead of them leading by a mere 14-points.
While the Hawks didn’t take advantage of the first quarter, they certainly did in the second quarter, banging on the first five goals of the quarter to spread their lead out to 46-points. Jai Newcombe, Karl Amon, Jarman Impey, Josh Weddle, Massimo D’Ambrosio and Connor MacDonald locked the Suns out the game, keeping the ball in their forward half. If the ball did sneak through to the Suns forward line, Josh Battle and Tom Barrass strangled the life out of the Suns hapless forward line. Up forward, Jack Gunston was everywhere, filling his boots with a couple of goals to match the one he kicked in the first quarter.
The Suns looked gone for all money until Christian Petracca, John Noble, Daniel Rioli, and Noah Anderson started to get more of the ball. The Suns stopped the Hawk machine from rolling and after a mid-quarter five-minute arm wrestle the Suns kicked the last four goals of the quarter, including the elusive Ben Long livened up their forward line snagging a couple of goals himself before the main break.
From being 46-points down midway through the second term the Suns went into halftime only 23-points down.
The Third Quarter and the Umpires Moment
The Suns started the third quarter with the same venom they finished the second, and after goals to Bailey Humphrey and Ben King the Suns got the margin back to under two goals.
Players who had been quiet in the first half, like Matt Rowell, Sam Collins, Touk Miller and the impressive youngsters Leonardo Lombard and Will Graham, all lifted, preventing the Hawks any entries into their forward 50. For all the Suns’ dominance in the early stages of the third quarter, the Hawks were lucky they didn’t take full advantage of their time in possession, kicking only two goals.
The Hawks broke the Suns streak of six straight goals when Conor Nash goaled, however that goal was immediately answered by Ben King who kicked his second goal to bring the Suns back to within 9-points again.
Game On – the Arm-wrestle
In one of the best displays this year of frenetic football, both teams attacked the game like the next goal would be the goal to win the match midway through the third quarter, and they weren’t wrong.
For ten minutes, both teams attacked and counter-attacked the game like their very season was on the line. Normally when both teams up the pace and play a frenetic brand of football the casualty is often skill and polish. However, this wasn’t the case, as both teams displayed skills worthy of teams vying for the upper echelons of the ladder.
The Moment
Given the frenetic pace and battle to get the next goal, the game needed a heroic moment.
Sadly, when the moment came it was not as a result of some individual sublime football, rather it was an umpire who stole the moment.
After the Suns rebounded from defence, a kick up the wing was marked by Tom Barrass, with both Jarrod Witts and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan standing on the mark. The field umpire, who didn’t nominate which player, told one of them to move away. Witts moved away while Ugle-Hagan remained on the mark without moving. The umpire blew his whistle and awarded a 50-metre penalty, to which Barrass took advantage as he slotted his first goal wearing the brown and gold jersey.
As already stated, the umpire did not say which player had to move until after Witts moved away and then it was stated the 50-metre penalty was for Ugle-Hagan not moving away.
Tom Barrass’ goal snapped the elastic band keeping the Suns in the game and it was game over from that point on
While Barrass’ goal dented the Suns, their chances were fully extinguished shortly after when Old Man Jack Gunston kicked his fourth game of the match from a near on impossible position outside the 50-metre arc on the boundary.
Goals to Jack Ginnivan, Jack Gunston (his fifth), Nick Watson (his second) and Finn Maginness (his second) buried the Suns in the last quarter who could only manage three-points as they just faded away, flying the white flag.
Whether or not the 50-metre penalty awarded to Barrass in the third quarter was right or wrong, it is not the reason why the Hawks won, rather it was the lack of fight by the Suns after that moment.
The Hawks are real contenders this year after their eleventh straight win at UTAS, while the Suns at this stage of the season are an average team with some potential.
Old Man Gunston
The difference between the two teams was Old Man Gunston, who again took on the responsibility of being the man up forward for the Hawks. Five goals and four behinds could have as easily been seven goals, and he did leave a couple on the field.
While Nick Watson and Finn Maginness booted a couple of goals, it was Gunston who stood out as the difference maker in front of goal.
Gunston’s counterpart up the other end, Ben King, who did not have a possession nor any impact before halftime, kicked a couple of goals the second half, but he never presented as the man.
For a few years now Ben King has looked ready to go to the next level, but again he was the invisible man in this game, a game that should have suited him. King needs to watch videos of other full forwards, including Jack Gunston’s, to learn how to remain a presence in a game even when it is not his day, including bringing the ball to ground in marking competitions for the crumbers.
Really enjoying Old Man Jack Gunston this season, while I look forward to the game/season when Ben King realises his true potential.
Jack Ginnivan and Nick Watson
Continuing the theme of remaining relevant in a game when the game isn’t being played on your terms, Jack Ginnivan has evolved and matured into a true team player. In the first half he was quiet with only three possessions, however, his ferocity at the contest was noted for six tackles. Ginnivan’s ability to do the hard yards in the first half was duly rewarded in the second half with thirteen possessions and a beautiful running goal from the boundary.
The turning point in Jack Ginnivan’s career can be dated back to when he was dropped to the magoos early in the season last year. Jack swallowed his medicine and since then he has been a reliable team player, with he’s newly found dynamism being crucial to the Hawks structure.
Nick Watson, in much the same way as his partner in wizardry Jack Ginnivan, has added reliability and consistency, both within a game and from week to week, to his repertoire while still being able to mesmerise opponents with his footy guile and magic.
The Suns Need a Big-Name Scalp on the Road
The Suns are now back with the pack of teams all trying to find enough wins to be part of September. It would be fair to say they have blown their chances at this stage of the season being one of the teams trying to secure a top four or top six finish at the end of the year.
The preseason talk about the Suns was they are a true contender after a good season last year, especially with the inclusion of players like Christian Petracca and others, however, season 2026 is not panning out as forecasted.
The Suns early season form begs the question, are they drinking their own bath water?
Being harsh, but maybe the Suns have got ahead of themselves after early season wins against the Cats, the hapless Tigers, a cringe worthy WAFL team called the Eagles, and the despondent Bombers, while the Demons, Swans and now the Hawks have beaten them and beaten them comfortably.
From an analytical perspective, the Suns are fragile when the pressure is on or when a decision doesn’t go their way. From being only nine-points adrift of the Hawks before Tom Barrass kicked his goal after a dubious 50 metre penalty, the Suns spat the dummy and only managed three more points for the rest of the game.
Cry me a river Suns – it is not that you got defeated by the Hawks, but it is the manner of how you lost after not getting the rub of the green when the game was on the line. Dean Cox, Justin Longmuir, Chris Scott and other coaches vying for September now know what Sam Mitchell, Steven King and Chris Fagan know – the Suns are mentally fragile.
Luckily for the Carrara lads, four of their next five games are home games, with two of those games being played in Darwin, while the only road trip is to Marvel Stadium to play the much-improved North Melbourne.
The Suns will be under scrutiny for the rest of the season, with pundits watching with interest results against other teams in the finals race, especially when playing away from home.
Jamara Ugle-Hagan
While struggling a bit to adjust to the pace of AFL football again, Jamarra kicked an early goal and while the stats will say he only had seven possessions, he presented as the most likely Suns forward to kick goals. In a game of ‘ifs’, if he had held onto marks he got his hands to, or if he had stuck a tackle, then he could have had a good game.
For a first up performance he needed the run, but when he gets fully fit and match hardened then Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will be an asset for his new club.
Worth a Mention
Jarman Impey, at the age of 31, is in career best form. In the first quarter he was one of the fire starters to ignite the Hawks with his game smarts and run. A lot of adulation, rightly so, is given to Old Man Gunston, but within the walls of the club the year Jarman is having would be highly valued.
Hawk youngster, Jack Dalton performed well in only his third match (correct me if I am wrong) and while he still has a way to go, he has shown enough for the club to persist with him.
It would be easy to criticise the performance of Calsher Dear, but that would be to ignore the role he played as the man to contest in the packs bringing the ball to ground for the Hawks smalls, as well as being the perfect deploy for Jack Gunston to strut his stuff. There will come a day when it is his term to be the man.
In the absence of the general James Sicily, the Hawks back six stood tall as an impenetrable wall thwarting the Suns forward thrusts.
Petracca and Anderson aside, Mac Andrew was the Suns third best player as he rotated between defence and the ruck. Mac plays with a unique flair making him a very watchable player. When Mac went to the centre, he performed like he belonged in the guts. I would love to see him given the role of playing as a good old fashioned ruck-rover.
Next Week
The Hawks play in a true MCG blockbuster on Thursday night when they take on the stuttering Pies in a game that will tell us a lot about both clubs.
For the Suns they return to their dung hill to take on the Giants in a critical game for both clubs.
Buy HB a coffee, the man is a machine not only reviewing four games each weekend but also pumping out new articles everyday – Fearless Leader is a Legend.
