After last week’s impressive 20-point victory over last year’s Grand Finalists, the Sydney Swans, questions lingered about whether Hawthorn could back up that performance against a fresh Essendon side. The Bombers had their opening round game against Gold Coast postponed due to Cyclone Alfred, but they looked sharp all throughout the pre-season.
However, Hawthorn was once again up to the task, defeating Essendon by 26 points at the MCG on Friday night.
The Hawks rose to the occasion, responding swiftly each time Essendon mounted a challenge.
In front of a crowd of 80,735, an all-time home and away record between the two sides, Hawthorn led at every break.
For the second week in a row, Sam Frost started as the sub, while Jade Gresham started as Essendon’s sub.
The opening ten minutes were a stalemate, with neither side able to break through. It wasn’t until Essendon’s livewire debutant, Isaac Kako, dazzled with a brilliant goal that the deadlock was broken.
The first AFL player with Iraqi heritage, lived up to the hype, soccering the first goal of the game and the first of his career from 20m out to give the Bombers an early lead.
It seemed to spark Hawthorn into action, because from there the boys in brown and gold took control, dominating the remainder of the first quarter. Picking up from his best-on ground performance in the opening round, Will Day was intense early while Josh Battle was also busy.
Jai Newcombe was also a solid contributor, playing that forward-mid role to perfection early.
By quarter time, Hawthorn had built a commanding 27-point lead, 6.1 (37) to Essendon’s 1.4 (10) with the forward line looking dynamic and fluid.
The second quarter began in a similar fashion with Hawthorn continuing to dominate and apply the pressure. The Hawks kicked the first goal of the term to extend their lead, though Essendon did mount a brief fightback.
Despite Essendon scoring a few goals of their own, the Hawks responded and Hawthorn’s composure ensured that by half time they had extended their lead to a 35-point buffer, 64 to 29.
But it was a bruising quarter as some friendly fire between Battle and Jack Scrimshaw saw them accidentally bump heads, forcing Scrimshaw off the ground with blood gushing from his face. He was soon ruled out of the rest of the game with concussion and Sam Frost came in as the sub. The Bombers also had their own injury concerns, with Jordan Ridley entering concussion protocols at half time, replaced with Gresham, and Kyle Langford straining a hamstring he has struggled with in the past.
While the Bombers came back in the third and fourth quarters, Sam Mitchell’s side always had an answer.
No matter how hard they tried, Hawthorn responded with a clinical display of precise, accurate kicking pinpointing their targets and scoring effectively. Battle’s precise kicking, 19 disposals and 400m gained was one effective way the Hawks quickly turned defence into attack.
The Bombers refused to give up without a fight, continuing to push hard in the final quarter, but every time they did, Hawthorn struck back, responding with goals of their own.
A great set play piece in the fourth quarter brought joy to the fans of the brown and gold when James Sicily’s long bomb kick-out caught the Essendon players off-guard and was kicked just in front of Jarman Impey who ran onto it, gathered the ball at pace and then kicked it perfectly to Connor Macdonald inside 50. The 22-year-old then went back and slotted it through the goal posts. It was a sublime piece of play that would have left fans salivating.
In a similar vein to last week, a collection of strong individual performances characterised a win that, for the most part, contradicted many of the major statistical categories that Essendon reigned supreme in.
Stellar contributions from small forwards Nick Watson (13 disposals, three goals, two goal assists), Dylan Moore (21 disposals, three goals) and Jack Ginnivan (15 disposals, two goals) were a welcome sight, particularly after a relatively lean Round 0.
In the absence of James Worpel (syndesmosis injury), Josh Ward also stepped up, showing he can fill the void, as he amassed 22 possessions, took five marks and gained 536 metres. His play, that predominately took place on the outside of the contest, was complementary to the inside grunt of Jai Newcombe (25 disposals, eight inside-50’s) and 100-gamer Conor Nash.
Nash, who became just the eighth Irish player in AFL history to reach the milestone, had 22 disposals and laid ten tackles in yet another consistent, workman-like performance.
And once again, Karl Amon was prolific, as he used his pace and smarts to amass 28 disposals, ten marks and two goal assists, alongside 643 metres gained that, teamed with his precise foot skills, arguably proved key to Hawthorn’s victory.
Though only two matches into the season, the intensity and consistency the Hawks have played with would please coaches and fans alike. This ferocity was perfectly embodied by Mabior Chol late in the match. Even though the Hawks were 26 points up, with just over a minute left in the game, the big man smothered a Dylan Shiel kick-out to keep the ball within Hawthorn’s forward 50.
Additionally, Hawthorn’s ability to impact the scoreboard and score more than 100 points, despite missing regular key forwards, Jack Gunston, Luke Breust, Calsher Dear and Mitch Lewis was impressive.
Unlike the game against Sydney, where Hawthorn was much more competitive around the contest, the Hawks were well beaten in the clearances, 50 to 31. Lloyd Meek was not as impactful as he was in the opening round, due to being double teamed by both Sam Draper and Nick Bryan.
The ability to win convincingly despite being smashed around the clearances demonstrates the young Hawks have plenty of upside.
Their ability to respond to challenges, both in their hard-fought win over Sydney last week and against Essendon, is another promising sign of growth. In previous years, this was a side that might have struggled to find a way to win in tight situations. But this year, they are showing signs of maturity and resilience that bodes well for the season ahead.
Hawthorn’s next challenge comes against Carlton on Thursday night at the MCG. The Blues, who will be eager to respond after their shock loss to a young Richmond outfit, should be expected to come out firing on all cylinders. Sam Mitchell’s men will need to maintain their impressive form if they are to continue building a strong foundation for a deep finals run in 2025.
