Hawthorn AFLW Senior Coach Daniel Webster says his side is “learning lessons every week” as it looks to finish the home-and-away season strongly. 

The Hawks notched up their eighth win of the season on Saturday against the Gold Coast Suns to remain second on the ladder, with finals now a lock for the second straight season.

This is made even more impressive by the fact that Hawthorn has one of the youngest lists in the competition, including second-gamer Daisy Flockart and first-year recruit Keely Coyne, who Webster praised when speaking to the media after the Round 9 win.

The Hawks coach also spoke about Aine McDonagh’s three-goal performance, how the midfielders fared and playing in Pride Round.

We summarised the key points from his press conference below. 

On Aine McDonagh’s performance

“To get seven shots on goal, she’s playing really good footy this year, she works hard, she’s incredibly smart and very competitive, so it’s great that she’s getting the shots at goal, it’s just about capitalising more and being more efficient.”

On how the midfielders fared 

“I thought they worked really well today. Especially with how young they are, you know, Daisy’s (Daisy Flockart) in her second game, Stoney’s (Laura Stone) in her second year and Jas (Jas Fleming) is only 20, so we’ve got a very young midfield out there against some very classy players. (Charlie) Rowbottom’s incredibly hard to stop, so it was good for Daisy to get some match-ups there as well as Stoney. I think it’s the continual work in progress around what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to create more options and find different ways to move the ball and be creative in that sense, so it’s coming along, but we’ll keep trying to tighten that up.”

On Daisy Flockart’s start to her career 

“She’s going really well for a second-gamer against a player like Rowbottom. To spend some time on her, I think for Daisy, hopefully, it builds a lot of confidence with what she’s doing. Especially the fact that physically, we know she’s very strong with probably the strongest midfielder in the comp, I think it’s a big tick for Dais, and yeah, I think the challenge for her is getting used to the speed of the game. It’s hard when you come in and play big midfield minutes and the ball’s zinging around. It’s a little bit different to a scrimmage, so she’s equipped herself very well, and she’s got a very exciting future ahead.”

On Keely Coyne’s season so far

“She started off playing as a defender, and then the opportunity came on the wing and she’s grabbed it with both hands. I think every week she’s just gotten better and better and better as she gets used to our system, gets used to our players, she gets more comfortable with the speed of the game because she missed a lot of games with injury, and it’s very difficult to come back and be at your best straight away. I think the way she’s building into her season has been excellent, and it’s great to see her actually get some reward because it’s a tough road that she’s been on, and she’s worked incredibly hard. I’m just rapt that she gets some reward for all the effort she’s put in.”

On the lessons the Hawks have learnt this season

“We’re learning lessons every week. It’s been great that we’ve been able to win games, and I think we’ve been chipping away at different elements of our game. The reality is we’re still putting out a young team, that’s going to lead to inconsistency, and that’s what we’re trying to get out of our game. I think today we were the bottom six in terms of the comp for the youngest team going out. I think that experience is going to hold us in really good stead, but that’s the challenge. You’ve got Daisy Flockart running out the middle, the on-ball stuff’s great, but then understanding where to run, the speed to do it, the decision-making, so I think it takes time to build that, and that’s what we’re starting to see a little bit more, we’re getting a bit more consistency in the team. That’s probably our biggest challenge at the moment, getting that time, because you want to develop the youth, but we’re also in a position where we want to win, which is always an interesting place, but it’s a good place for us to be in. I think we learned a lot of lessons today. Offensively, we were a lot better. I think at the end, that defensive lapse, we were getting a bit tired towards the backend of the game, and not being able to close the game down in that sense. It was a bit of everything, finishing our work, there’ll be stuff at stoppage which we’ll pull out, it’s constant refinement for us. I think the good thing is we’re reasonably consistent across the board with how we’re playing. If it’s a question of refinement each week, that’s a great place to live.”

On Pride Round

“Firstly, I love our jumper, I think it’s magnificent. The whole way the competition respects this round and shows off this round is fantastic. I think raising awareness in this space is very important. We want people to be able to play footy or any sport, really, and feel comfortable in that space, and that goes for anyone. I think as a broader community and country, we need to get better at this stuff around valuing people for who they are and letting people be themselves. I think it’s an important message to get out there. I think what the competition does is fantastic for that.”

Watch Daniel Webster’s full press conference below