We are back for another classic game review and this week I have gone into the archives to look at all of our clashes against the Adelaide Crows.
Whilst there have been some awesome finals against the Crows and while they would have been fantastic to review, this series is all about home and away games.
There were three fantastic choices, from 2003, 2008 and 2016 and with collaboration from my fellow Talking Hawks contributors, the decision was made to talk about 2008.
This is and always will be one of my favourite seasons of football due to the result that was ahead of us on Grand Final day, but this home and away season was special.
Hawthorn came into the Round 12 clash with Adelaide at Football Park in Adelaide with ten wins and just the one loss, averaging a whopping 117 points per game.
They had the most deadly forward line in the league with Buddy Franklin on his way to 100, Jarryd Roughead the perfect Robin, Mark Williams the prototypical third tall and the likes of Cyril Rioli and Michael Osborne being the fantastic smalls we knew them as.
However, travelling to Adelaide against the Crows had not been kind to the boys in Brown and Gold, with the last Hawthorn win coming in 1994, before TH alumnus Mitch, Daz and even I were born!
This was a different Hawthorn side for sure and this was a side that wanted to come out and dominate.
It wasn’t the best start for the Hawks, with Adelaide jumping out of the blocks in front of their home crowd, having the first five scoring shots of the game and piling it on early.
Goals to Osborne and Rioli helped to square the ledger of the first quarter and go into the first change just a point behind.
Just like the first quarter, the Crows threw the first punch of the second quarter with two goals coming in the first four minutes and throwing down the challenge again.
It took a ridiculous goal from Mark Williams, from a spot where commentator and AFL legend Malcom Blight claimed “he had only seen one goal” kicked from that spot to bring the momentum back in our favour.
Roughead and then Williams again kicked goals, making it three in a row for the quarter, giving the Hawks the lead late in the second quarter.
A late Kurt Tippett goal gave the lead back to Adelaide and the even nature of the first half was personified with the two point lead for the Crows at the main change.
The story of the first half was all about Buddy Franklin, a man taking the league by storm with his insane athleticism and goal kicking ability.
Buddy already had bags of six multiple times and beasting the Bombers to the tune of nine goals, just seven days before.
He was getting involved, but had not kicked a first half goal with four behinds, the criticism of his accuracy the talking point.
Jason Porplyzia kicked two goals in two minutes late in the third quarter and the Crows threatened to kick away, but when Batman wasn’t there, Robin got the call up.
Jarryd Roughead’s 2008 campaign will forever be overshadowed by the Buddy 100, but it is hard to describe how important Roughy was to this side, but he proved it in this one.
He kicked two goals to end the third quarter, making it three for the game and without him, the Hawks would have found it hard to keep in touch with the Crows.
Down by only three points at three quarter time, the one-two-three punch of the quarter-half-three quarter breaks drew widespread awe in a footy “Scorigami” that’s never been achieved before and hasn’t since.
After the Crows kicked the first of the last quarter, Franklin understood his team needed a big moment and he delivered with a 60 metre bomb to keep in touch.
It went goal for goal again and with the Hawks down two points with just minutes left, it was Luke Hodge time.
Not yet the captain, Hodge stood up and showed his natural leadership collecting a ball inside 50, stepping inside and slotting the goal to put his team in front.
Cool Hand Luke delivered again, not for the first time and was nowhere near the last for Captain Courageous.
It was the deciding goal and the Hawks got it done, breaking their 14 year drought against Adelaide in Adelaide and winning by four points, the final score reading:
Adelaide: 10.12.72
Hawthorn: 11.10.76
It was an unbelievably even effort by the Hawks this night, with a ridiculous ten players having over 20 disposals, with no real stand out to speak of.
Hodgey accompanied the winner with having 28 disposals, with Michael Osborne benefiting on his best individual season as a Hawk with 21 disposals and two goals.
This win stands out with me during this season for many reasons, obviously the first being the ending of the 14 year losing streak against the Crowns in Adelaide.
The second one is being, this was the first win for the season we had to grind it out and win tough.
Yes, the Hawks had some close wins during the season to this point, but in every one of those games they were able to lean on the forward line kicking 100+ points.
The Adelaide defence was fantastic in this game and Hawthorn knew they couldn’t rely on kicking 20 goals to win this game and it was a different kind of win.
This team will always be a favourite of Hawks fans, delivering the famous grand final win over the all conquering Geelong and I believe this win was one of the most pivotal.
