THE CHANGES
HAWTHORN
IN: Luke Hodge, Kade Stewart, Ryan Burton, Teia Miles
OUT: Ryan Schoenmakers (Omitted) , Taylor Duryea (Omitted) , Billy Hartung (Omitted) , James Sicily (Omitted)
ADELAIDE
IN: Taylor Walker
OUT: Troy Menzel (omitted)
SUMMARY
Hawthorn and Adelaide are two sides that experienced drastically different emotions in their round one outings. For the Hawks, there was much disappointment as the revitalised Bombers were too strong. Meanwhile, the Crows claimed arguably the most telling win of the week, as they demolished the flag favourite GWS Giants in front of a packed Adelaide Oval. With both teams considering themselves finals contenders this year, this game promises to be a blockbuster.
WHERE AND WHEN: MCG, Saturday, April 1, 1.45pm AEST
TV AND RADIO:
TV: Live on Fox Footy
Radio: Triple M,3AW, SEN, ABC, ABC G'stand
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME
R5, 2016, Hawthorn 17.10 (112) d Adelaide 17.7 (109) at the MCG
Paul Puopolo was the star of the show as he inspired Hawthorn to their third consecutive three-point win. The small forward kicked his fifth goal in the dying seconds of the game to clinch an incredible, comeback victory for the Hawks.
The Hawks trailed by 15 points at the 18-minute mark of the final term before kicking three straight goals to take their record to four wins and one loss after the first five rounds of the season.
LAST FIVE TIMES
R5, 2016, Hawthorn 17.10 (112) d Adelaide 17.7 (109) at the MCG
2SF, 2015, Hawthorn 21.9 (135) d Adelaide 8.13 (61) at the MCG
R12, 2015, Hawthorn 17.12 (114) d Adelaide 12.13 (85) at Adelaide Oval
R17, 2014, Hawthorn 15.14 (104) d Adelaide 14.8 (92) at Adelaide Oval
R6, 2013, Hawthorn 13.11 (89) d Adelaide 11.12 (78) at AAMI Stadium
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Hawthorn
1. By his own standards, Cyril Rioli had a quiet game last week. He will be keen to make up for his slow start against the Crows. The Hawks superstar was at his very best last time these two teams met, with 14 disposals, 10 tackles and four goals.
2. In his debut in the brown and gold, Tom Mitchell was outstanding against the Bombers. He gathered a game-high 37 disposals, which included 16 contested possessions. Mitchell also achieved a new career-high in inside 50s, with ten. Hawks fans will be happy to have the ball in Mitchell’s hands going inside 50.
3. The Hawks have opted for youth, with Kade Stewart, Ryan Burton and Teia Miles all selected to take on the Crows (with the latter set to make his debut). Burton kicked three goals for Box Hill last week and has shown himself to be damaging at both ends of the ground.
Adelaide
1. One of the most impressive elements to the Crows win last week was the performances of their young brigade. Of their top six ball-getters, four of them were 23 years old or younger. Wayne Milera, Charlie Cameron and Matt Crouch combined for 75 disposals, as the Crows simply had too many midfield threats for the Giants to handle.
2. Rory Laird was the best player on the ground last week against the Giants. Coming off a year in which he made the All Australian squad of 40 players, the 23-year old picked up a career-high 40 disposals, made all the more impressive for the fact that he went at an 85% disposal efficiency. Needless to say, the Crows want the ball in this young star’s hands.
3. Eddie Betts has always been one to be wary of. But after the reigning All Australian turned 30 over the summer, Betts is showing no signs of slowing down. Along with kicking four goals of his own against the Giants, the former Blue also had 11 score involvements, showing that he doesn’t necessarily have to be kicking goals to be having a big impact for his team.
THE SIX POINTS
1. The last time the Crows beat the Hawks at the MCG was round 20, 2009. The Crows have only beaten the Hawks at the MCG one other time at the venue since the turn of the millennium.
2. The Hawks enter this round two clash holding a seven-game winning streak over Adelaide. This is the Hawks longest current success streak over any interstate club, apart from the Gold Coast Suns, who the Hawks are yet to lose to in their eight encounters.
3. Last week’s games around the league were noticeably high-scoring with every winning team (bar Brisbane with 98) reaching the 100-points mark. Of every week last year, this feat was only bettered once, in Round 12, when all winners kicked at least 100 points. This indicates a clear competition-wide development to a higher-scoring game style, with the Crows achieving the highest score of the round with 147 points.
4. With both teams almost at full strength, an incredible 10 All Australians will take to the MCG on Saturday. The Hawks boast seven of these (Luke Hodge, Cyril Rioli, Jarryd Roughead, Grant Birchall, Shaun Burgoyne, Luke Breust and Josh Gibson) while the Crows have three of their own in Eddie Betts, Rory Sloane and Daniel Talia.
5. It was Hawthorn’s small forward brigade that created the victory last time these two teams met. Puopolo (5), Rioli (4), James Sicily (2) and Breust (1) combined for 12 of the Hawks 17 goals as the Crows defenders folded under the extreme pressure.
6. The Hawks have not lost consecutive home and away games at the MCG since 2013 (when they lost to Geelong in round 15 and then Richmond in round 19).
IT'S A BIG GAME FOR …
Luke Hodge (Hawthorn): Expect the three-time premiership skipper to come out firing this week after sitting out round one with a club-imposed suspension. The Hawthorn midfield will revel in getting Hodge’s familiar grunt back in the clinches.
Charlie Cameron (Adelaide): Cameron is set to receive more midfield time this year and looked outstanding in his new role last week against the Giants. Playing his 50th game last weekend, the 22-year old picked up 23 disposals, six tackles and kicked 2.3 in a dangerous display for the Crows. Cameron will be looking to back this performance up again on the MCG.
