HAWTHORN players and coaches have alluded to the team’s inability to string four quarters together, and Assistant Coach Adam Simpson says the Hawks are still searching for the “complete” game.
It’s a scary thought given Hawthorn are nine and one at the halfway point of the season, but in each of its games, the Hawks have either been outplayed or outscored by its opposition.
Isaac Smith touched on it in May when the Hawks were outplayed by Gold Coast in the opening half of the Round 9 match.
“We've just got to come out and play four quarters of footy,” he said on the Monday following the match.
"We probably haven't done that this year and pretty much every game we've let ourselves down over a patch within the game.”
Coach Alastair Clarkson blamed a lack of endeavour in that match.
“Gold Coast took it up to us, and full credit to them, but we just didn't play with the type of endeavour," he said after the match.
"We didn't tackle and put pressure on the Gold Coast side enough in the first half, and we allowed them to control the ball far too easily."
Clarkson then issued a similar warning to opposition teams after his side’s 95 point smashing of Melbourne before the bye, declaring the Hawks still have improvement left.
“We still think there's some improvement in terms of the way that we play,” he said.
"We've just been a little bit unsettled the last three or four weeks just with some changes to our side.”
Utility Shaun Burgoyne too admitted the Hawks haven’t yet played a consistent four quarters and that would be the focus in the second half of the season.
“We've got to come out and play four quarters of footy," he said after the win over Melbourne in Round 10.
"We probably haven't done that yet this year.
"I reckon in pretty much every week we've let ourselves down with a patch somewhere within the game."
Now, the Hawks are refreshed after enjoying its scheduled bye last week, with the players given a few days off before returning to the Club last Friday to prepare for tonight’s clash with Carlton.
Assistant Coach Adam Simpson says the focus now is on playing the “complete” game, with the focus on a consistent four quarter effort against the Blues.
“There’s no doubt we probably weren’t playing at our peak against Greater Western Sydney, Gold Coast and Melbourne,” he told hawthornfc.com.au
“While we were ecstatic to come away with wins in all those games, we probably didn’t hit the peak performance that we’d like.
“The break gave us a chance to reflect on that as well, so hopefully we can respond this week.
“It’s our focus every week to try and get a complete game because when we play a good four quarters we think we’re pretty hard to stop.”
The difficulty the Hawks face though, he says, is that playing the “complete” game is the focus of each of the 17 other clubs and given the calibre and evenness of the competition today, achieving what the Hawks desire is difficult.
“We’ve made that aware to our players, but I’m sure opposition teams are the same, because every club’s best performances are pretty handy,” he said.
“If we can play a good four quarters, I think we’ll be hard to stop but that’s always the challenge because the other team are doing exactly the same for their preparation.”
Hawthorn plays its first match at Etihad Stadium for premiership points of the season tonight.
It’s a rare appearance for the Hawks at the venue, given its home ground is the MCG and it plays a number of blockbuster matches against sides like Geelong and Collingwood at the home of football.
Simpson says the coaches have prepared the players for the fast deck at Etihad, but the style of play from the Hawks won’t vary too greatly.
“We know it’s going to be a fast track in terms of the ball use and the roof will be close obviously so that’ll provide a good spectacle and our players are aware the game will be played in a fast, dry weather situation rather than a slippery MCG,” he said.
“You need to prepare them (the players) for that, but other than that, our style of play won’t change too much because it’s at Etihad.”
