The Box Hill Hawks overcame a 33-point deficit with a huge last-quarter comeback and a goal on the siren to secure a spot in the Preliminary Final.

Senior Coach Zane Littlejohn detailed his pride in the group for their resilience.

“What a day, one of the best games of footy I’ve ever been involved in,” Littlejohn said.

“The resilience of our group to stay the course ultimately and show belief, and obviously work really hard to get themselves a result that they thoroughly deserve.

“But full credit to the Brisbane Lions, what a football club and an outfit they were, they challenged us, they took away our game for a long part of it, and we had to work super hard to get the game anywhere on our terms.

“A really tight arm wrestle for the first half, and they just controlled the whole third quarter. In regards to the scoreboard, the game wasn’t super out of our control, though. At three-quarter-time, we moved the magnets a bit, changed a few things up and just asked the boys to get back to what we want to be known for. And they showed a real desire not to let the result be what it could have been. Everyone bought in, and that ultimately got us the result.”

The Hawks now face Footscray at Whitten Oval on Saturday afternoon, with the winner to advance to the Grand Final.

“A great challenge this week now, we go up against the minor premiers in Footscray, a really formidable outfit,” he said.

“It’s going to be a huge test, but we’ve put ourselves in a position now to have a real crack at this. We’ll ride a bit of the momentum, but ultimately, we’ve got to get back to the drawing board and make sure that we prepare like we know we can and we’re going to have to be at our absolute best to beat them over there.

“We obviously haven’t beaten them this year, they got hold of us at Box Hill, and they got a great win early in their Qualifying Final, really healthy group. It’s going to be a great challenge, one that we’re going to be ready for, and we’ll put our best foot forward and hopefully do all our fans, both Box Hill and Hawthorn people, really proud.

“To be in another Preliminary Final, our second in three years, is something we’re really proud of, so we’ll do our absolute best to come away with a positive result. Hopefully, after Friday night, all our fans can get across to Whitten Oval and  cheer for the brown and gold.”

Henry Hustwaite (37 disposals, 23 contested possessions, 11 clearances, 10 inside 50s)

“Henry finished with 37 (disposals), 11 clearances, super tough, composed with ball in hand, really lifted his rate and his pressure stuff was really pleasing. So a shoutout to Huss, he probably didn’t have his best day the week before, but got back to what we know he can do and what his best footy looks like and was able to execute that really well.”

Cam Mackenzie (31 disposals, 23 contested possessions, 10 clearances)

“Cam again with Hus, was tough, set the scene I reckon at the first centre bounce of the game. He’s a talented footballer, superhuman, finished with 31 disposals, 10 clearances. I thought him and Hus around the footy were really dominant and gave us a good drive out of there.”

Seamus Mitchell (24 disposals, seven marks, six score involvements)

“Again, back to some of his best. His first half was probably the best footy we’ve seen him play in the last month which is great. His dash, his ball use and his toughness was really good. He has a role to play on the Brisbane Lions’ small forwards and got the job done. He had a really crucial contest late in the game, he’s actually the one who got it to Hus, and then Hus kicked it into Bodie. So his great positioning and the work we’ve done about the positioning and the defensive structure paid off in that moment in time and Shammy was a crucial part of that.”

Jai Serong (22 disposals, eight marks, six intercept possessions)

“A lot of people will talk about Bodie kicking the goal, but if anyone’s got time, I’d go back and watch the first contest of the last quarter, Jai Serong goes back with the flight of the ball, cops one in the mouth, could’ve chosen not to go, but he did, he went and we win that next contest, we go forward and Ethan Stanley kicks a goal within the first 20 seconds of the last quarter. That’s Jai Serong, a great leader among our program and setting the scene, which is super important, and I think we need to make sure we recognise that. He’s had 22 disposals, three intercept marks and a bloody crucial contest early in the last.”

Bailey Macdonald (One goal, 21 disposals, seven intercept possessions)

“Bailey Mac, back to his best, run and carry, some great defensive efforts, in particular in the last quarter. Got rewarded by hitting the scoreboard, kicked a goal, got a nice 50-metre penalty which took him to the goal square and kicked a really crucial goal in the last quarter. When he’s running and dashing and I speak about that dare in the last quarter, we saw that from him and really uses his weapons and finds the right threats in the game which is great.”

Bodie Ryan (Two goals, 20 disposals, eight intercept possessions)

“Well we know what Bodie’s day looked like, but he was great early, even up to that. He’s finished with 19 (disposals), kicked a goal early in the second, a crucial goal, his defence, he’s had some really good moments with ball in hand, we talk about calm and composed with ball in hand, he was one of those and used it really quite well, he’s gone at 100%, so can’t use it better than that. So great reward for the young man, to get forward and hit the scoreboard, but also we need to celebrate his defensive actions, he’s had some areas he needs to tighten up. But all in all across the whole day, in just his second senior final, I thought he executed really well.”

Cody Anderson (One goal, 15 disposals, three tackles)

“Again, we talk about moments and grabbing your moment in the last quarter and Codes had a huge run-down tackle in the last quarter, could’ve given up, chose not to, stuck at it and ultimately gets the tackles, didn’t get rewarded with holding the ball but his tackling was super. Hit the scoreboard, he’s been playing more forward, put himself in at some centre bounces, got great speed, great power. Again, just in his second senior final, contributed really strongly.”

Max Ramsden (Two goals, 13 disposals, five marks)

“Rama, hit the scoreboard twice, we moved him second ruck, got around the ground last in the last which was great and challenged Oscar McInerney a bit more around the ground, with his running power and helping us defensively. But really nice return from Rama, he’s put two really good finals together now which is great reward from him to get some recognition around hitting the scoreboard but also contributing really strongly to the team.”

Will McCabe (12 disposals, four inside 50s, three marks)

“Will went back forward this week after spending the last few weeks on a wing, had some good moments where he got out and worked really hard offensively. The thing with Will now is he’s got to find the balance when he’s tired, how he can still contribute to the game, whether it’s vocally or physically, he needs to find ways to continue to contribute to the game in that space. There were some really good moments where he does selfless leading to create space for Mitch Lewis or a Ned Reeves or Max Ramsden which we need to celebrate and they’re really important.”

Mitch Lewis (Four goals, 11 disposals, five marks)

“As disappointed as he was to not be playing in the AFL final, his attitude was exceptional. He came back and we saw that in his performance, the way he was able to play a really crucial role in drawing the footy to him, but also keep one of their really good defenders occupied, was crucial to us getting the result. Everyone will see that he kicked four goals, but what was a real highlight was his pressure and his ability to when the ball hit the ground, apply great pressure, get up the ground and get back inside 50. So a great return from Mitch, we were rapt to have him and see him come back and play well.”

Ned Reeves (Two goals, 27 hitouts, 10 disposals)

“Oscar McInerney probably got the best of him across the whole day. But the pleasing thing was what he was able to do late in the last, kick two goals, a crumbing goal that Luke Breust would be proud of and a really good out the back leading pattern goal, snap from the pocket in front of the scoreboard at Box Hill which we all know is a really tough pocket to kick a goal from, so shout out to Ned for that. But swallowed his pride, knew he had a role to do for the team in the last quarter and executed it really well and super vital.”

Sam Frost (10 disposals, four marks, two intercept possessions)

“Frosty moved back this week, we started him forward last week, played the whole game as a defender. His communication, his ability to set the whole ground up, is so important. He’s going to have a really crucial role this week to again help set that field up for us and make sure that we can get the result. But his leadership and composure behind the ball, his composure and execution wasn’t at the level he would like but ultimately his leadership is so valuable what he can provide to everyone else around him.”

Jasper Scaife (One goal, nine disposals, five marks)

“Really solid day, what I’m liking with Scaifey more and more is his ability in contest to not be a one effort player, we see multiple efforts from him in contests now, if he’s not marking it he’s following up, keeping his feet and keeping himself in the contest which has been great. Great reward for Scaifey, hit the scoreboard again and should’ve arguably hit it more, but just some composure going inside 50 whether we missed him or he wasn’t able to execute his role, probably cost more opportunity. But all in all a really solid return from Scaifey.”

James Blanck (Nine disposals, four intercept possessions, two marks)

“Probably not Blancky’s best day, but had some crucial contests, particularly last quarter, we needed him to save and he took a really important intercept mark late in the last, which helped us. But not his best day by any means, so isn’t that pleasing when Blancky hasn’t played his best and we were able to get away with a win but he’s so important to us structurally and his contest behind the ball is super.”

Matt Hill (One goal, seven disposals, six contested possessions)

“Wow, he’s got some traits this kid. He’s got speed, he’s tough and we were able to see a bit of that. The fact that he was able to get further up the ground at times and what he’s working on now is once he gets high, how he can reset back and use his speed to challenge his defender. Kicked a really important goal, we’ve worked really hard on what it looks like and how he can keep his feet at the drop of ball and if you watch the game back, you see him in the right spots and as a small forward, some days it’ll land in your lap and some days it won’t but you’ve got to keep turning up and that’s the challenge that Hilly’s learning at the moment. He’s hit the scoreboard again, should’ve kicked two, kicked 1.1, so seeing some great signs from Hilly. And just the growth, continuing to learn the game, he’s played two VFL finals now which as we know is as close to an AFL game as you’re gonna get without it being an AFL game.”

... And a few VFL player shout-outs

Trent Bianco (23 disposals, eight marks, seven inside 50s)

“Thought his composure with ball in hand, his offensive threat in front of the ball was really pleasing. He’s a great leader, really calm with ball in hand, he’s used it really effectively, gone at 80% by foot, he’s had seven score involvements from his 23 disposals which is a great return.”

Ethan Stanley (One goal, 18 disposals, seven contested possessions)

“As people would’ve seen, he kicked the first goal of the last quarter which was really vital. He’s got great weapons and great traits, he’s obviously been on an AFL list before, for those reasons, he’s just got to believe in himself, this kid can play footy. His toughness shone through this week which was pleasing so great return from Milky.”