The form

Hawthorn
The Hawks bounced back from the loss to Fremantle with an emphatic victory over the Cats and are well placed for the final home-and-away game before finals.

Coach Alastair Clarkson has already said his team wants to keep the momentum going heading into September, so expect no drop off in form from the Hawks on Friday night.

Collingwood
The Pies have won just three matches since they last faced the Hawks, with form and missing personnel hurting them in that time.

After recording a gutsy win over GWS last week, Collingwood are still a chance to play finals with coach Nathan Buckley declaring his team will throw everything they’ve got at the Hawks, even without a number of key stars.

 

Recent history

Collingwood hasn’t beaten the Hawks since 2011, with the brown and gold enjoying a successful stretch against them having won their last six matches between the two sides.

The Hawks have won those matches comfortably too, with the 29-point winning margin of Round 14 this year the closest between the two sides.

 

Collingwood injuries

The Pies have been hit savagely by injuries, with their forward line, midfield and backline all affected.

They have lost their most dangerous forward in Travis Cloke, who has achieved five, three, five and six goal hauls in his last four matches against the Hawks, not to mention he has booted 39 goals for the season to be their leading goal kicker.

The Pies have also lost two of their top four midfielders in Dayne Beams and Dane Swan, with the duo ranked second and fourth respectively for average disposals at the club this year.

Beams and Swan are also ranked first and third respectively for clearances, which leaves the Pies significantly hamstrung in the middle.

Former Hawk and perennial runner Clinton Young, one of the best kicks in the Collingwood side is also missing, with his run through the middle important in the way the Pies play.

 

So who is there?

Any team featuring Scott Pendlebury is a threat and no doubt Alastair Clarkson and the Hawks won’t be underestimating what Collingwood can achieve when their backs are against the wall.

Pendlebury led from the front in his team’s gutsy win over the Giants last week and an average disposal count of 28.4 on the year suggests it’ll be tough to stop him from getting the footy.

He leads the Pies for disposals, centre clearances and tackles, while he will be the top ranked player for overall clearances and inside 50s in the team that takes the field on Friday night.

The Pies skipper will also have premiership star Steele Sidebottom beside him in the midfield, a player who has had an outstanding season.

Sidebottom is averaging 26.2 disposals this season, ranked third at the club, but it is in his ability to push forward and kick goals (13 for the year) and push hard back to help clear the ball is important.

He is actually one of Collingwood’s most important players given his ability to use the ball well on both sides of his body and create overlap through the midfield.

Midfielder Josh Thomas was best on ground in last week’s win over GWS and he’ll be one to watch for the Hawks. Thomas has averaged 17.4 disposals this season but averaged just over 19 in his breakout year in 2013.

He picked up 29 against the Giants and booted three goals, so he’s another attacking Pie who is capable of impacting the scoreboard from a permanent midfield position.

Jamie Elliott, who has kicked 33 goals this season to be ranked second behind Cloke is also a chance to return to bolster the forward line to stand alongside Jesse White and Tyson Goldsack.


Steele Sidebottom celebrates a goal for the Pies.
 

Can they stop the Hawks?

The problem for Collingwood is their defence and midfield is young and inexperienced and Hawthorn’s is anything but.

It’s hard to see how the Pies will be able to stop the likes of Luke Breust and Jarrryd Roughead, who booted seven goals between them in the Round 14 meeting between the sides.

The Hawks average 131.5 points for in games against Collingwood and with an inexperienced defence of Jack Frost, Lachlan Keeffe, Marley Williams, Tom Langdon and Jackson Ramsay it’s hard to see how they’ll be able to keep the Hawks to below that.

Breust in particular has caused the Pies headaches, having been held goalless by Collingwood in just two of his seven matches against them. In fact, he has kicked more goals against Collingwood (17) than he has against any other team.

That’s because the Hawks also have one of the most damaging midfields in the competition, who are ranked number one in the league for clearances and third for forward 50 entries.

The Hawks average 40.9 clearances, while the Pies are ranked 16th in that area with an average of 34.7. From there, the Hawks get the ball inside their forward 50 frequently, averaging 55.6 entries per game.

From those 55.6 entries, on average the Hawks average 28.2 scores per game.


Jarryd Roughead is Hawthorn's leading goal kicker again this year.
 

Stingy Hawks

The Hawks have conceded just 80.4 points per game to their opposition this season but that average has tightened in the last month.

The highest score conceded by Hawthorn has been 91 points to Freo in the loss in Round 21, but other scores are just 71n to Geelong last week and a measly 65 to Melbourne and 45 to the Bulldogs in Rounds 20 and 19.

With Brian Lake and Josh Gibson now back and settled in defence alongside Ben Stratton, Matt Spangher, Shaun Burgoyne and Grant Birchall, the Pies face a tough task breaking through.

That is made even more difficult given they’ll be without Cloke and scoring has been a big issue for them this season.

Once a dangerous attacking outfit, Collingwood has managed to kick over 100 points in just four of their 21 matches this season.

In fact, the Pies are ranked 13th in the league for scores, ranked higher than only the Bulldogs, Giants, Lions, Saints and Demons.

They average only 81.4 points per game – that’s just 1.4 more points than what Hawthorn concede to their opposition.

Leading into finals, Hawthorn and Clarkson will be keen to restrict their opponent’s scores to establish their defensive proficiency.