The Hawks managed to hold on by just two points in Tassie against the severley under-manned Swans, who rested there vetereans due to the contraversial 16-interchanges-a-quarter rule.
Despite not kicking a goal in the final term, the Hawks had two super goals on the board, without which they would have actually gone down. The Swan would leave happy with the performance but in the clutch would have still loved a win.
The Brief...
- The Swans average age plummets without Barry Hall, Craig Bolton, Peter Everitt, Nic Fosdike, Darren Jolly, Tadhg Kennelly, Michael O’Loughlin, Leo Barry, Brett Kirk and Adam Goodes!
- Swans 2007 gun Nick Malceski out for the season
- Watch out for young Hawks Beau Muston and Jarryd Morton
- Mark Williams gets through his first game back for the Hawks
- Obligitory "Buddy" Franklin mention - he booted no goals 5!
The Hawks
Scores all round were pretty low in this one. The Hawks were led Dream Team-wise by Luke Hodge with 77 DT points and 88 SuperCoach points. Grant Birchall (74,97) delivered as you'd expect and young gun Beau Muston (73,52) live up to the hype, while Jarryd Morton (69,87) created some.
The Hawks SuperCoach stars were actually quite different. Cracking the tonne were new captain Sam Mitchell (60,105), Thomas Murphy (67,110) and Lance Franklin (61,108) with a return of no goals 5! Simon Taylor (64,72) was good in the #1 ruck role, although wasn't up against the Swans typical #1, and Travis Tuck (62,70) did well at half-back with 8 marks.
Down the list "Crawf" (58,73) and Bateman (42,37) were low on numbers, as were the almost absent Tim Boyle (20,3) and Michael Osborne (1,-21!). Mark Williams got through his first game back for the Hawks and ran a bit through the mid-field.
The Swans
Sydney minus their veterans allowed Craig Baird (84,96) to impress, running on Sam Mitchell all day. He'll be on the radar for all DT and SuperCoaches of he can get some good game time during the season. Also on the radar is ex-Crow Martin Mattner (69,83), who sat out the final term after performing for three quarters in a half-back flank role that could well see his value increase signifcantly.
The Swans squad was full of young players and some of the more impressive at this stage included Ryan Brazabon (65,43), Kristin Thornton (60,96) and rookie Aaron Bruce (48,73).
Nick Davis was struggling to justify his 2008 price-tag and 2007 gun Nick Malceski was unfortunately ruled out for the season after suffering a ruptured ACL in his right knee.
What's Next?
Hawthorn take on the enthusiastic Blues in a NAB Cup quarter final at Telstra Dome on Saturday night. The Swans stay at home in Sydney for a challenge match against the Power.
DT