Australian Football

Match Report

Is this Hawthorn team the greatest in VFL/AFL history? It's a fair question to ask - although one that certainly isn't easy to answer - after the Hawks dismantled the West Coast Eagles in the 2015 Grand Final on Saturday. On the warmest Grand Final in history - the mercury peaked at 31.3°C - Hawthorn conceded the first goal of the match but did not do much else wrong over the next three and a half quarters as its precision disposal and intense pressure reduced the Eagles to a shadow of the formidable side that they have been through this season. And when the Hawks weren't harassing them, the Eagles put pressure on themselves with some basic skill errors and missed opportunities through the first half when the contest was still alive.

The win gave the Hawks a third consecutive premiership, making them just the sixth team in history to record a hat trick of flags, and stamped them truly as one of the great sides of all time. Cyril Rioli had a brilliant first half, his attacking and defensive efforts very telling when the game was up for grabs, and he emulated his famous uncle Maurice in 1982 by winning the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground.

1st Quarter

Nic Naitanui didn't let Eagles' fans down when the ball was bounced, winning the first tap and following up with a clearing kick to the forward line. West Coast didn't score from that forward foray, a rushed behind the result after just 11 seconds, but soon after Luke Shuey was taken high after a ball-up and converted for the first goal of the match at the two-minute mark. It didn't take too much longer for Rioli to begin exerting his influence. Jarryd Roughead brilliant evaded a tackle on the boundary line and shot out a handball too Rioli, who snapped truly for Hawthorn's first. West Coast had a chance at a second goal but a Shuey dribble kick missed after he had turned down the opportunity to handball to Jamie Cripps running free next to him. The Hawks made them pay soon after when Ben McEvoy juggled and marked to give Hawthorn a lead that they would not relinquish.

Another rushed Eagles behind was followed by a beautiful centring pass from Ryan Schoenmakers to Rioli who made no mistake with his kick. West Coast then had two big chances up forward but Shuey badly shanked a shot at goal after a mark, and a long-bomb from Naitanui after he followed up his own tap-out was touched by Brian Lake just millimetres from the goal line. Hawthorn punished them once more not long after, Grant Birchall snapping a goal after a slick handpass from Sam Mitchell. Rioli played a part again at 28-minute mark, marking and passing off to an unattended Brad Hill who ran in and made it 5.0 for the Hawks, to follow on from their incredibly accurate 15.4 in the Preliminary Final. 

Quarter time: Hawthorn 5.0 (30); West Coast 1.5 (11)

2nd Quarter

With the fortune already favouring the brave Hawks, they opened the second term magnificently when skipper Luke Hodge snapped a left-foot banana from 35 metres out right on the boundary under pressure after receiving a handball from Paul Puopolo. That put Hawthorn 25 points clear and the match was already slipping away from West Coast. Jack Gunston added a behind for the Hawks before the Eagles again missed an opportunity when their captain Shannon Hurn marked but his shot faded to hit the post. At that stage, both sides had had seven scoring shots but Hawthorn led 6.1 to 1.6. 

Gunston then made ups for his earlier miss with two goals in a row, the first a handball receive from that man Rioli, the second after Rioli had chased down Mark Hutchings to win a free kick and send the ball forward once more. The Hawks led by 37 points at that stage, but there was more to come from them. A searing kick from outside the 50-metre mark near the boundary gave Isaac Smith his first goal, and made it 43 points before the tide appeared to turn slightly. A brilliant pick-up and snap from the boundary by Josh Hill sparked the Eagles to a degree and then Elliot Yeo marked strongly and goaled from an angle just as the half-time siren sounded, cutting the margin to 31 and giving West Coast some confidence going into the long break.

Half time: Hawthorn 9.3 (57); West Coast 3.8 (26)

3rd Quarter

An early third-term goal from the Eagles was paramount if they were to be a chance and, after a behind from Mark LeCras, Jack Darling gave them just that after a strong mark from a long Hurn pass. The lead was back to 25 points and West Coast had the momentum. The Eagles also had further chances soon after but made some terrible blunders in front of goal, including an easy dropped mark from Darling and a terrible attempted pass from Shuey which split two unmarked teammates and found a Hawthorn defender. As good sides do, Hawthorn made them play yet again with a snapped goal from Schoenmakers. 

Hutchins brought it back to 25 points when he gathered a loose ball and goaled at the 13 minute mark, but that was to be West Coast's last meaningful hurrah. As he had done in the second quarter, Gunston kicked a brace of goals after marks, and then  an Isaac Smith dribbler from the boundary made the difference 43 points at the 21-minute mark, pretty much ending the content then and there. A snap from sub Matt Suckling made it 50 points and the Hawks led by that commanding margin and the final change of ends. 

Three-quarter time: Hawthorn 14.5 (89); West Coast 5.9 (39)

4th quarter

The Hawks were never going to lose from 50 points up at the last change but they made absolutely certain of the result with the first two majors of the last quarter, the first from the goal-square by Roughead and the second after Luke Breust was taken high 15 metres out and Smith took the advantage to snap truly. That put Hawthorn 61 points ahead and, although had further chances after that, they missed them all with Shaun Burgoyne, Ben Stratton, Liam Shiels, Rioli and Mitchell all kicking behinds.

West Coast got late consolation goals through LeCras and Jeremy McGovern (two) but the Hawks were celebrating all over the field by then and those three late Eagles majors were of little concern as they went on to record a brilliant 46-point win and take home a third consecutive premiership to match Brisbane's hat trick of 2001-02-03.

FULL TIME: Hawthorn 16.11 (107); West Coast 8.13 (61)

Hawthorn had winners all over the ground but Rioli (18 disposals and two goals) with his influential first-half touches was awarded best on ground. Luke Hodge (30 possessions), Sam Mitchell (34 touches, five marks) and Jordan Lewis (nine marks, 26 disposals) were all magnificent as well. For West Coast Andrew Gaff, 34 possessions, three marks) played a fine game, while Matt Priddis, a little bit quieter than he would have hoped, still had a good match with 25 touches and seven tackles). Shuey (26 disposals and five tackles) was also very good for most of the afternoon.

The debate will now rage about whether the West Coast Eagles will learn from this experience and go one better in 2016, and whether this Hawthorn outfit is the greatest team of all time. While that goes on, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson will get back to work after a short break and look to put together a side to match Collingwood's four-in-a-row effort of 1927-30. At this stage, it would be foolish to write off the Hawks' chances of emulating that mighty feat. 

GOALS
West Coast: McGovern 2; Darling, Hill, Hutchings, LeCras, Shuey, Yeo
Hawthorn: Gunston 4; Smith 3; Rioli 2; Hodge, Roughead, Birchall, Schoenmakers, Hill, McEvoy, Suckling

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
West Coast: Gaff, Shuey, Butler, Hutchings, Priddis
Hawthorn: Rioli, Mitchell, Smith, Hodge, Gunston, Burgoyne, Frawley

BEST - THE AGE
West Coast: A Gaff L Shuey B Sheppard S Butler
Hawthorn: C Rioli, S Mitchell, J Frawley, L Hodge, S Burgoyne, B Lake, R Schoenmakers, J Gibson

NORM SMITH MEDAL: Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn)

INJURIES 
Hawthorn: Nil
West Coast: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: David Hale replaced by Matt Suckling in the third quarter.
West Coast: Callum Sinclair replaced by Matt Rosa in the third quarter.

UMPIRES: Rosebury, Stevic, Dalgleish

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

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

NATIONAL ANTHEM : Kate Ceberano