Hawthorn is looking to keep its finals hopes intact when it hosts an in-form Fremantle outfit at UTAS Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks (8-8, 94.2%) were given a reality check in Geelong last Saturday and simply must win at their home away from home if they’re to stay within arm’s reach of the likes of Brisbane, GWS, Melbourne and Collingwood.
Meanwhile, the Dockers (10-5-1, 115.1%) have won four of their past five games and remain well in the hunt for a top-two berth in 2024.
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James Sicily and Calsher Dear return for Hawthorn, but Sam Mitchell’s men will be without Mitch Lewis after he cruelly suffered an ACL injury last weekend.
Fremantle, however, will have to cope with a key absence of its own with Sean Darcy (concussion protocols) sidelined, having recalled young key forward Patrick Voss.
While the Dockers have won six consecutive matches against the Hawks, the hosts are 10-1 all-time against the purple haze in Launceston.
Hawthorn is also 5-1 in Launceston since the start of the 2023 season.
The match gets underway at 1:45pm AEST from UTAS Stadium.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), streaming on Kayo or via Hubbl from 1:30pm AEST.
LIVE MATCH UPDATES
The substitutes for today’s contest are Harry Morrison (HAW) and Michael Walters (FRE).
The Hawks got off to the perfect start as Dylan Moore won a free kick for holding the ball, converting the set shot for the first of the game.
In the absence of Mitch Lewis and Jack Gunston, Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell threw swingman Blake Hardwick forward at the start of the game.
Fremantle got their first through ‘dead-eye’ Jye Amiss before Josh Treact converted his set shot shortly after.
Veteran Luke Breust hit back for the Hawks, with neither side able to assert themselves on the contest in a major way.
Stand-in Dockers skipper Caleb Serong bobbed up for his first goal of the day, giving his side a slender lead at the first break, 3.2 (20) to 2.3 (15).
The Dockers got the first of the second term, after Sam Switkowski was awarded a free kick for his tackle on Hawk Massimo D’Ambrosio.
The Hawks broke their drought as Connor MacDonald snapped truly from close range to cut the margin to within a kick again.
They then hit the front when Calsher Dear made something out of nothing with a snap for his first of the day, before a big contested mark and converted set shot saw him kick his second within a minute!
“He could be the difference-maker in this,” Dwayne Russell said on Fox Footy.
“They’ve been screaming out for someone to say ‘this is my time’ and the young man looks like he’s looming large,” North Melbourne champion David King said.
The Hawks added another via Josh Weddle, who had left his post in defence to give the Hawks another target forward of centre, as they opened up a two-goal margin.
Former Bomber Patrick Voss gave the Dockers a lift when he roosted one from outside 50 right on the half time siren, reducing the margin to seven points, 6.6 (42) to 5.5 (35).
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Source Agencies
