Australian Football

Match Report

Stung by strong media criticism of their slow start to 2012, Hawthorn’s stars put on a show against St Kilda. Cyril Rioli lit up the MCG with six magical goals that turned the game the Hawks’ way after strong resistance from the Saints. Superstar forward Lance Franklin played his best game of the opening six rounds, kicking five goals as he made the most of St Kilda’s undersized backline. The Saints defence was further stretched when Sam Fisher went down with a hamstring injury in the second quarter. After coming in as a late inclusion (replacing ruckman Ben McEvoy) Justin Koschitzke proved to be dominant for the Saints, kicking five goals – his biggest goal tally in a match since 2010. It was tight for the majority of the night, but the Hawks pulled away in the final quarter to record a fairly comfortable victory in the end. The result left both sides with a 3-3 record after six rounds and sitting outside the top eight.


GOALS
St Kilda: Koschitzke 5, Riewoldt 3, Fisher, Milera, Stanley, Saad, Milne

Hawthorn: Rioli 6, Franklin 5, Roughead 2, Whitecross, Breust, Puopolo, Smith, Hale


BEST - AFL.COM.AU
St Kilda: Koschitzke, Steven, Blake, Goddard, Gram

Hawthorn: Rioli, Franklin, Shiels, Lewis, Hodge, Mitchell

BEST - THE AGE
St Kilda: Koschitzke, Goddard, Hayes, Blake, Steven
Hawthorn: Rioli, Franklin, Lewis, Mitchell, Shiels, Guerra, Sewell

COACHES COMMENTS
Scott Watters (StK): I think we missed some opportunities we should have taken. There were three or four goals in the first quarter that ... nine times out of ten should have been a goal. In a game where you're 10 points down at three-quarter time, two or three missed opportunities are critical. We'll continue to work on that.

Alastair Clarkson (Haw): Perhaps the margin at the end made it look a little bit more comfortable than it was because from the coaches box and the players' point of view, it was a really tough battle. Right throughout the course of the night we threatened to break away from St Kilda and we just couldn't prise the game open, much to their credit.

Umpires: Hay, Findlay, Mollison