While the Hawks rest up during bye week, we have pulled together some trends that have emerged from Hawthorn's first 12 weeks of football.
Here are the facts...
The Hawks have not lost a game this year when they have scored 92 or more points.
Historically, the Hawks’ points scored has been a simple, but telling indicator for success. Currently this year, they rank 15th in the league in the area, aligning closely with their 14th ladder position. In the premiership years of 2013-15, the Hawks recorded the most points for of any team in each home and away season.
When the Hawks have reached 100 or more marks, they have won three out of four times.
The Hawks’ top two biggest scores this year (in Round 5 against West Coast and Round 8 against Brisbane) have come from their top two highest marks inside 50 tallies
However, marks inside 50 have been hard to come across for the Hawks this year, rating 17th in the competition with an average of just 8.9 per game. This is a noticeable regression from the dominant years of 2013 (ranked first in the league), 2014 (third) and 2015 (first).
The Hawks top four performances in goal kicking accuracy so far this season have resulted in their four wins.
There is no real surprise that sharp shooting at goals leads to a greater chance of success. Consider that, through the Hawthorn three-peat years of 2013, 2014 and 2015, Hawthorn ranked first in goal kicking accuracy in each of those years.
In losing games this year, the Hawks have averaged 34 clearances per game, whilst in winning games, the clearance rate has been much higher at 39.25 per game.
The Hawks are living proof of the value of one-percenters this year. In their winless opening month, they averaged 52.25 one-percenters per game, but over the next seven weeks, they were able to boost this number to 63.3 to bring about four wins from those seven games. The Hawks rank first in the league in this category, despite their season-low count of 38 one-percenters against the Suns on the weekend.
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The Hawks are the third-best side in the league for avoiding clangers, averaging only 49.6 per game and behind only the Bulldogs and the Eagles. To put this into context, the worst sides in the league are Brisbane and, surprisingly, Adelaide who average 57.3 clangers a game.
Over the opening month of the year, the Hawks were operating at an unflattering 73.8% disposal efficiency. The statistic has improved a key indicator in the outcome of Hawks’ games as they have recorded a lowly 74.2% in losses, but an impressive 77.2% in wins, a rate that would lead the league in this category if the Hawks were able to emulate that each week.
Despite Hawthorn being valiant in their loss to the Gold Coast on the weekend, the statistics paint a disappointing picture of their Round 12 performance. The Hawks recorded their lowest contested possession and one-percenters count of their season, as well as their lowest marks tally since the opening fortnight.
Interestingly, one statistical area that was a “weakness” throughout the threepeat years was tackling. The Hawks’ best league-wide result in the category over that period was their eighth place in 2013 (ranking 10th in 2015 and 16th in 2014). This season, the Hawks rank second in the competition in tackles, averaging 73.8 a game to trail only the Western Bulldogs.
