Hawthorn has claimed its first finals win since its premiership triumph in 2015, and here in 2024, a flag is well and truly within the realm of possibility.
Fuelled by a comprehensive second-half performance, the Hawks hammered a nail in the coffin of the Western Bulldogs’ season to book a semi-final meeting with Port Adelaide next weekend.
The Dogs played the game on their terms in the early going at the MCG on Friday night, but after quarter-time it was all Hawthorn, kicking 12 of the last 17 goals to storm to a convincing victory.
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“Do you believe? That is the question, because the dream is very, very much alive,” Melbourne great Garry Lyon told Fox Footy’s post-game coverage on Friday night.
Collingwood icon and 2003 Brownlow winner Nathan Buckley spoke of Hawthorn’s holistic beating of an in-form opponent.
“It was just a significant destruction of a very good opposition — who were poor tonight — but you’ve got to give Hawthorn the credit for that, because the Dogs have been in ripping form up until tonight,” he said.
“It wasn’t just in contests, it wasn’t just in transition, it was forward, it was back, it was consolidated across the field.”
In the second half, Hawthorn booted 7.12 (54), logged a juicy score-per-inside-50 rate of 61 per cent, was +20 for contested possessions and +11 for inside-50s — culminating in a comprehensive beating of the dampened Dogs.
Dogs star involved in HUGE ump collision | 00:25
“It could have been a lot worse for the Western Bulldogs … they (Hawthorn) were scoring at will in the end,” Lyon said.
“They were almost taking the ‘you know what’ out of the game.”
Four-time Hawthorn premiership player Jordan Lewis explained the evolution of Friday night’s contest — and how his former side was able to snatch the ascendancy and not relinquish it.
“It was a really mature way to think through the game,” he told Fox Footy.
“Certainly, early on, when the Bulldogs’ energy was up, they were able to force (Hawthorn) into a game (style) that really suited the Western Bulldogs. Then after half-time, and this is what they (the Hawks) do to teams — if they don’t get you early, they get you late.
“You could just see the way that they were covering the ground. The way that they set up the game going from inside … again, their cleanliness — it was just a complete performance from a side that is probably the second-hottest team in the competition right now.”
Mitchell discusses the shift in momentum | 11:53
Speaking on-field after the game, cult hero Jack Ginnivan spoke glowingly of the youthful dynamic at Waverley Park — with the exception of a few ‘fossils’.
“Amazing game … This is so much fun,” he told Seven. “Everyone’s my age, everyone does what I do, celebrates, carries on.
“I love my forward-line. We’ve got a few fossils — ‘Gunners’ (Jack Gunston) and (Luke) Breust keeping us together, but everyone else is so young and so happy and when this guy’s kicking goals, it’s so much fun.”
Ginnivan made a few headlines for his decision to hit the town on the eve of Friday night’s final — but with the backing of his coach, he is in no hurry to conform to the conventional standards of others.
“Water off a duck’s back,” he said. “I feel like I’m allowed to go and have a few waters, have dinner.
“I don’t know. Everyone will keep talking, but I’ll just do what I do and just try to have fun and kick goals.”
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“Hey, I believe,” Lyon said of Hawthorn’s ominous trajectory. “They are as good a chance as anyone (to win the premiership).”
Brisbane Lions legend Jonathan Brown outlined the Hawks’ modern-day mentality.
“I feel like they’ve just embraced it now, Gaz,” he said post-game on Friday. “Normally, us old-schoolers, we’d sit there and go ‘oh, they’re getting ahead of themselves — no chance they’ll win next week the way they’re carrying on’.
“I feel like Hawthorn now, they’re embracing this whole thing, celebrating with the crowd, celebrating with each other. Jack Ginnivan said it — (he’s having) so much fun playing with all the younger blokes as well — I think they’re just going to keep doing what they’re doing.”
Lyon responded: “We would look like the idiots if we were jumping up and down about the way they celebrate, because they back it up. Once you back it up … you can do what you want. Winners are grinners, and losers please themselves.”
Lewis added: “To see the exuberance, to see the celebrations, and I think (coach Sam Mitchell) said it before — as long as it doesn’t come disrespectful and you invite everyone in to enjoy the ride, absolutely let them go.”
Lyon concluded: “It’s a different world we live in, these days. We don’t want to sound like we’re too old, but this is the world that we live in. You celebrate, you share on social media.”
High flying Hawks knock out Bulldogs | 02:26
In amongst an environment overflowing with youthful buoyancy, one of the club’s more mature heads — skipper James Sicily — reflected on his side’s rapid ascent to bona fide premiership contender.
“This year’s had the lowest of lows in the early days, and now we’re coming to the highest of highs, but I always believed in the vision and the projections that we’re on,” Sicily told Fox Footy post-game on Friday.
“(I had) full trust in Sam and the football club, and for this to be happening this quick, I’m sort of pinching myself — it’s unreal.”
Asked by Lyon if the Hawks could actually win this year’s premiership, Sicily coolly replied with a wry grin: “Why not?”
The 29-year-old recorded 23 disposals, four intercept marks, nine intercepts, six score involvements, and 541 metres gained in an inspiring display.
Brown recalled Mitchell’s previous responses when asked about Hawthorn’s ambitious premiership aspirations in 2024.
“When he (Mitchell) gets asked about the premiership, how many times have we seen coaches just try and shy away from it or answer it like a politician? Whereas Sam Mitchell just goes ‘that’s what we do, that’s what’s expected at Hawthorn — we’re not here to play finals, we’re here to win premierships’,” Brown pointed out.
“I feel as if it sets a great bar, and it just flows through the team.”
Mitchell’s Hawks will rest and recuperate before travelling to Adelaide to play the vulnerable Power in the Second Semi-Final.
Source Agencies
