Australian Football

Match Report

While Hawthorn versus Geelong encounters have become the stuff go legend over the past decade, the Hawks and Swans have also developed an intense rivalry over recent seasons that has produced a host of classic encounters, and Friday night's match at the MCG was no exception. These two sides met back in round 10, with Hawthorn holding sway for much of the match, only to lose the lead in the final term before snatching it back to prevail by six points, inflicting the Swans' only loss since round six.

Incredibly, Friday night's match followed almost the same script. The Hawks once again led for large parts of the match but two early final quarter goals saw Sydney hit the front. But just as they had nine weeks earlier, the Hawks regrouped to regain the lead, goals to Liam Shiels and Jarryd Roughead putting them 13 points clear, before a late goal to Swan Tom Papley narrowed the gap to six, Hawthorn sneaking home by exactly the same margin as it had at the SCG earlier in the year.

Sydney had the better of the first few minutes of the match, Callum Sinclair - who kicked five goals in Sydney's win over St Kilda last week - marking strongly within the first minute. His shot at goal missed, but teammate Will Hayward was online a minute later, his accurate snap giving the Swans a seven-point lead. Hawthorn hit the scoreboard not long after, a lovely running  goal from Shaun Burgoyne cutting the margin to a point, before a follow-up goal to Tim O'Brien saw the Hawks take the lead. Goals proved hard to come by after that, Hawthorn scoring the only two over the next 20 minutes via Ryan Schoenmakers and Roughead to jump to a 15-point lead, but a late goal to George Hewett had Sydney back within eight points at quarter time.

The Swans had a brief period of control early in the second term, with Papley and Sinclair kicking truly to make it three majors on the trot for the visitors, giving them a five-point lead. However, a running goal to Shiels restored Hawthorn's lead and set off a run of goals that would give the Hawks a decisive break. Burgoyne, Schoenmakers and Taylor Duryea all followed up with majors, while Sydney could not find the goals again before the half-time siren sounded, and the long break saw Hawthorn with a lead of 21 points.

Needing the first goal of the third quarter to stay in touch, the Swans got just that when Hewett marked and converted within a minute of the start. Seven minutes later, a holding infringement saw Lance Franklin - having a very quiet night - kick his first major and Sydney was back within eight points. From there the defences of both sides took complete control. Scoring was at a premium, to such an extent that only two behinds were kicked for the remainder of the quarter. Both went the way of Hawthorn, which took a 10-point lead into the last change.

The teams traded behinds in the early minutes of the final term before a 'banana' kick from Jarrad McVeigh found the goals to cut the margin to four points. At the seven-minute mark, Papley marked outside 50, wheeled around and ran in to kick his second goal to give Sydney the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter. At that point, the Hawks had not kicked a goal in the second half, but after they added two behinds to level the scores, Shiels soccered one through from the goal-square to restore a six-point lead.

James Sicily added another behind at the 17-minute mark and then a strong mark and a 'captain's goal' from Roughead took Hawthorn's lead back out to 13 points. Franklin tried to get the Swans back into the match, but his long shot missed. However, not long after he found Papley with a pinpoint pass, and Parlay kicked his third goal to cut the margin to six points with just over a minute left on the clock. The Swans tried to make one last foray forward but a strong contested mark from Jack Gunston with 30 seconds left allowed the Hawks to wind down the clock and hang on for a stirring six-point win. 

Roughead, who had four stitches in his cheek after a heavy knock early in the match, was crucial to his side's win, with 24 disposals and eight marks. Isaac Smith (12 marks, 26 touches) was also very important. For Sydney, Luke Parker (24 possessions, eight tackles) and Nic Newman (29 disposals and seven marks) were beacons. 

The gutsy win kept Hawthorn's finals chances alive. They are a game and a half outside the eight with four to play the first of those against fourth-placed Richmond at the MCG on Sunday. A win against the Tigers will keep the Hawks well in the hunt. By contrast, Sydney's place in the top eight is now vulnerable. Despite being the form side of the past 12 weeks, the Swans' 0-6 start to the season may come back to haunt them. They are inside the eight on percentage with some tough games to come, starting with Geelong (second) at Kardinia Park on Friday night.

GOALS
Hawthorn: Roughead, Shiels, Schoenmakers, Burgoyne 2; O'Brien, Duryea
Sydney: Papley 3; Hewett 2; Hayward, Sinclair, Franklin, McVeigh

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Hawthorn: Roughead, Shiels, Hodge, Sicily, Burton, Brand, McEvoy
Sydney: Parker, Heeney, Papley, Newman, Mills

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Roughead (cut cheek), Hardwick (concussion), Mitchell (left ankle)
Sydney: Lloyd (hip tightness) replaced in the selected side by Robinson, Rohan (back spasms) replaced in the selected side by Foote, Naismith (knee), Kennedy (left thigh), Sinclair (ankle)

UMPIRES: Stevic, Williamson, McInerney 

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Brian Taylor, Wayne Carey, Cameron Ling, Matthew Richardson