LUCK may have played a part in Hawthorn’s thrilling win against Adelaide on Friday night, but Ben McEvoy believes the Hawks’ method in tight contests also played a significant part.
With five minutes to play against the Crows, the Hawks trailed by three kicks.
But goals to Paul Puopolo, Cyril Rioli and Puopolo again – with the sealer – helped the Hawks get over the line.
“I think it’s a balance of things,” McEvoy told 3AW.
“When it comes down to the wire like that, you’ve just got to have that real hunger to win the contest. But it’s also a scenario we practice a lot…. You throw caution to the wind a little bit, but there is method to the madness.
“It’s really important to stay composed out there.
“We’ve got a lot of senior players that are very good at that, and our younger players are good at it too, which has helped us get over the line the last couple of weeks.”
The balance of youth and experience has been key for the Hawks, especially in the past three weeks.
James Sicily kicked the match winner against the Bulldogs in Round 3, the Hawks’ older heads combined in the dying minutes against the Saints in Round 4, and Paul Puopolo was the man of the moment against the Crows.
“We’ve become really good at sharing the load,” McEvoy said.
“There’s no plan for someone having to be the hero or anything. You’ve got nothing to lose – you don’t want to play it safe.
“We always firmly believe we can win.
“As a player, I always have the utmost confidence that even when things look down, we can get the job done.”
The Hawks’ ruckman has quietly gone about his business in the opening five rounds, playing an important role in the club’s 4-1 start.
But McEvoy says the Hawks know they have plenty of areas to improve in.
“I don’t think it’s any great secret that we’re not playing our best footy,” he said.
“But at the same time you need to get runs on the board. You look back to this time last year and a few weeks ahead, we ended up being four and four (win-loss ratio) and lost some games we could have or should have won.
“We’re fully aware of where were at, we’re not playing our best footy but we’re getting wins on the board at the minute.
“We’re looking at it with a massive upside.”
