1. Good signs early from Lynch and Wright
The Suns have been in wretched form in recent weeks with a dearth of marks inside their forward 50m zone of particular concern. A vital cog in the Gold Coast machine, Tom Lynch showed signs of a return to form against the Saints in round 13 and started like a house on fire in Launceston. With fellow tall Peter Wright making his first appearance for the year and presenting well to the ball, Lynch was able to isolate Hawthorn's defenders on a couple of occasions to bag a pair of contested marks and two goals as the Suns bounced out of the blocks to lead at quarter-time. Unfortunately for the Suns, the positive start didn't last long and after quarter-time they were thoroughly trounced to finish with a 53-point loss.
Peter Wright’s presence was clearly noticed by the Hawks early on – and by Daniel Howe in particular. The 203cm Wright cannoned into Howe during an early marking contest, bringing groans from the 9007 patrons at UTAS Stadium, but the young Hawk dusted himself off and bounced back beautifully to finish with a goal at the other end of the ground just moments later. Howe's ability to absorb the bump and rebound for a goal summed up Hawthorn's first term beautifully with the Suns throwing everything they had into the contest only to see a late, late goal to Jack Gunston undo a lot of the good work and start the swing of momentum in Hawthorn's favour.
3. Scoring drought strikes early
Much has been made of Gold Coast’s inability to kick a goal during its past four final quarters, with just two behinds to show from final terms in recent weeks. Against the Hawks, the rot started early as the promising signs quickly vanished during a goalless second quarter in which the game swung heavily in Hawthorn’s favour. As it happened, the Suns followed up with a goalless third term as well, making it six such quarters in five matches. And just when Peter Wright looked destined to break the drought from a set shot 25m out, directly in front, at the seven-minute mark of the final quarter, he inexplicably pushed his kick right to register yet another behind. In the end it was Alex Sexton who kicked the long sought-after goal, taking advantage from a free-kick to run all the way in and dribble a genuinely unmissable shot home from point-blank range.
Taylor Duryea has spent plenty of afternoons in Launceston doing a valuable job deep in Hawthorn’s defence, but for a few moments late in the second quarter on Saturday he looked every bit the livewire forward. With seconds remaining in the first half, Duryea launched into a pack, got a ride on Charlie Ballard’s shoulder and hung there expertly to lodge his entry for Mark of the Year. Kicking after the half-time siren, Duryea was unable to convert his shot at goal – but he wasn’t on his own. Hawthorn kicked 3.6 in each of the second and third quarters to be 8.13 at the final break and only 34 points in front when the lead should have been far more.
5. Hawks take the points but leave plenty of percentage behind
Hawthorn dominated long stretches of the game and despite trailing early, were never genuinely threatened by the Suns. Their four premiership points sees them jump into the top eight over the Kangaroos who have the right of reply on Saturday night against the Bulldogs, but it seems unlikely Alastair Clarkson would be totally satisfied with the scoreline. By the final siren the Hawks had booted 13.18 and won comfortably, but it could – and should – have been a far greater, percentage-boosting margin. Whether the Hawks will rue the lost opportunity to boost their percentage on the run towards the finals remains to be seen, but it’s hard to think their current percentage of 115.6 shouldn’t have been even higher after Saturday's win.
