Australian Football

Match Report

Hawthorn's dream of a premiership hat trick remains well and truly alive after the Hawks put the Adelaide Crows to the sword in Friday night's Second Final at the MCG. The Crows' valiant season came to close at the hand of a ruthless Hawthorn, the Hawks almost putting the result beyond doubt in the first 30 minutes of the match, booting eight goals to two in the first quarter. The Crows had kept pace for the first half of the term, and were within a goal of Hawthorn at the 15-minute mark but five in a row from the Hawks to close out the quarter more or less turned the rest of the night into a non-event. 

After a rushed behind to Hawthorn kicked off the night, a poor kick-in from Crow Brodie Smith was marked by Hawk skipper Luke Hodge, who kicked truly to register the first goal of the match inside the first two minutes. A controversial deliberate out of bounds decision against Hawthorn's Grant Birchall saw Adelaide's Josh Jenkins take the Crows' first shot at goal and he converted from a tight angle to make the difference one point. The Hawks responded with a goal soon after to Matt Suckling and then Isaac Smith ran through the 50-metre arc and kicked his first to put Hawthorn two goals clear. A brilliant check-side snap from the boundary line from Patrick Dangerfield cut the margin to a goal but the Hawks got right on top after that. A brace of goals to Luke Breust was followed by a nice snap from Hodge for his second and when Breust crumbed a marking contest to kick his third, Hawthorn was out by 30 points. Jordan Lewis followed up with a mark and goal right on the siren and the Hawks led by an even six goals at quarter time. Its score of 8.4 at the first break was equal to its best ever, set in the 1989 Grand Final. 

The one-way traffic Hawthorn's way continued early in the second term, a chain of possessions ending with a mark and goal to Ryan Schoenmakers at the two-minute mark. A free kick four minutes later saw Breust kick his fourth major and the Hawks led by an even 50 points. To the Crows' credit they managed to stem the flow of goals after that. Tom Lynch kicked his first to cut the margin to 44 and, although Hodge marked and kicked his third at the 11-minute mark to extend the margin to 50 again, that was to be the Hawks' last goal of the half. Unfortunately for the Crows, they could only add one major of their own in that period, Lynch's second after a mark at the 20-minute mark. At the main break, the Hawks held sway by 45 points. 

If the Crows were going to make a game of it after half time, they needed to get the first couple of goals of the third quarter. Unfortunately for them the Hawks got the first two - and the third and fourth. The first was a beautiful long goal from Jarryd Roughead from beyond 50 that bounce through the goal-square. Two more via Cyril Rioli and Breust followed and then a crumbing major in the goal-square from Hodge made it four in 10 minutes and four for the captain and Hawthorn's lead was a massive 69 points. The only unanswered question at the moment was what the final margin would be. The Crows actually dominated the next 15 minutes, holding the Hawks scoreless, but could only add 2.5 themselves, a beautiful long running goal to skipper Taylor Walker and another to Jenkins. Hawthorn finished off the quarter with a goal to Bradley Hill and led by an even 10 goals at the last change of ends. 

Only the formalities remained in the final term but the Hawks did not take their foot off the pedal. They started the term off with a running goal to Paul Puopolo, and followed up with another major to Isaac Smith. Jenkins got one back for the Crows but Roughead's second from outside 50 extended the lead to 73 at the 10-minute mark. Lewis followed up with his second to make it 79 before Jenkins' fourth cut it back to 73 points once more. The Crows peppered the goals towards the end, scoring six behinds in a row, while Breust bobbed up to kick his sixth goal between all of those misses, giving the Hawks a 73-point win and putting them within a game of a fourth successive Grand Final.

Best for the winners included Breust (six goals, eight tackles), Hodge (four goals, 24 touches), Sam Mitchell (33 possessions) and Lewis (nine marks, 23 disposals), while the Crows were well served by Sam Jacobs (41 hitouts, six marks), Scott Thompson (28 possessions, eight tackles), Daniel Talia, who did a good defensive job on Roughead, and Patrick Dangerfield (29 touches, five marks) in what was almost certainly his last game for the club. He is hotly tipped to sign with Geelong in the coming days.

The Hawks will travel back to Subiaco next Friday, the scene of theie loss to West Coast a fortnight earlier. But they were back to their best against Adelaide, and the match against the Dockers should be a fascinating affair.

Despite the big loss, Adelaide has achieved far more than could possibly have been expected of it after the death of coach Phil Walsh in July. Scott Camporeale did a magnificent job as a caretaker after that, but it remains to be seen whether he will lead the Crows in 2016, and if the team can scale the same heights - and perhaps greater ones - next season. 

GOALS
Hawthorn: Breust 6; Hodge 4; Smith, Roughead, Lewis 2; Suckling, Schoenmakers, Rioli, Hill, Puopolo
Adelaide: Jenkins 4; Lynch 2; Dangerfield, Walker

BEST - THE SATURDAY AGE
Hawthorn: Hodge, Breust, Mitchell, Birchall, Stratton, Smith, Frawley
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Jacobs, Talia, Jenkins, Thompson, Lynch, Laird

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Hawthorn: Hodge, Breust, Frawley, Mitchell, Stratton, Birchall, Gibson, Burgoyne
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Talia, Laird, Jenkins, Lynch, Jacobs, Thompson

INJURIES 
Hawthorn: Lake (abdomen)
Adelaide: Laird (ankle)

SUBSTITUTES 
Hawthorn: David Hale replaced by Billy Hartung at three-quarter time.
Adelaide: David Mackay replaced by Jarryd Lyons in the third quarter.

UMPIRES: Rosebury, Chamberlain, Jeffery

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti, Wayne Carey, Cameron Ling, Tim Watson, Matthew Richardson