“Synergy”.
An essential trait in a successful team, and something midfielder Will Langford believes can help the Hawks overcome the Crows this weekend.
“There’s no secrets, there’s no magic formula [to success],” says Langford.
“We’ve had great success for several years now and the whole football world knows what Hawthorn is like when it plays well, so it’s probably just about finding that synergy between the players.”
Hawthorn fielded four club debutants in its Round 1 clash against Essendon, with Jaeger O’Meara, Tom Mitchell, Tyrone Vickery and Ricky Henderson all pulling on the brown and gold in their first official Hawthorn hit out.
Langford describes the team’s performance as “a bit scratchy”, but believes there were some good patches of play to build from.
“In Round 1, the perceived pressure and or the actual pressure might be a little bit higher, and obviously we didn’t win, so that’s never great.”
“It was a good building block for me personally and obviously there were still some positives that came out of the team, so hopefully we can just keep tweaking things to prepare for this Saturday against the Crows.”
Read: Footy flashback Round 2
Langford managed 27 disposals for the match, the equal-second most of his career, and seven clearances. He ranked second on the night in each of these statistics, behind just Mitchell (37 touches) and O’Meara (eight clearances).
Having completed most the pre-season, Langford is “feeling very good” as he enters the 2017 season.
“I’ve struggled a bit the last few years with little niggling injuries and breaking down, but I managed to get about 95 percent of the pre-season done which was really pleasing.
“It’s probably the first time that I’ve had that sort of continuity.”
“I’m feeling very good, so we’ll see how I go.
"I’ve got through pre-season, I did the work, did the training, and I’m in one piece at the moment, so hopefully they’re all positives for me personally and can help me slot in and do the things that the coaches and my teammates need of me consistently."
