HAWTHORN 5.2 12.5 20.10 27.12 (174)

NORTH MELBOUNRE 4.1 6.4 7.4 9.5 (59)

 

Hawthorn star Lance Franklin has given North Melbourne a football lesson, kicking the biggest individual haul of goals the AFL has seen in 12 years, as the Hawks demolished the Roos by 115 points.

Buddy was on fire for the Hawks - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairerdingo/

Franklin’s 13 goals was better than any other return since Scott Cummings kicked 14 against the Crows way back in 2000, and the final margin was Hawthorn’s greatest over North in the history of the two clubs.

Even North coach Brad Scott couldn’t help but praise the supreme effort. “It was one of the best individual displays I’ve seen in my time in footy.” Scott said.

“We haven’t seen a goal-kicking effort like that since the glory days of the full forwards.”

The Hawks were superior on the day to North Melbourne in almost every area, including effort and pride. Sam Mitchell was unstoppable in the middle on his way to 35 disposals, whilst Grant Birchall and Brent Guerra provided the Hawks with plenty of drive by foot all afternoon.

With winners all over the ground, Hawthorn were allowed to do as they pleased throughout the day, and North Melbourne’s defensive efforts in the midfield were lamentable to say the least. They were disorganised, disinterested, soft, and just plain embarrassing. In addition to the time and space they gave Franklin, North also allowed five more Hawks to become multiple goal-kickers.

What probably made it worse for the Roos was that they actually started OK. They led by eight points late in the first quarter, before kicking just 5 goals to 22 in the final three quarters.

The statistics didn’t paint a pretty picture either. Despite North chasing tail for most of the day and Hawthorn finishing with a whopping 91 more disposals, they still out-tackled the Kangaroos 74 to 64. They also had an impressive 21 more contested possessions, 15 more clearances, and 30 more inside 50s by the time the final siren ended North’s misery.

After being tipped by many experts to make the finals or at very least threaten to play in September this year, North have lost four of their last five and are quickly becoming the most disappointing team in the AFL. Hawthorn on the other hand are building nicely despite last week’s loss, and have won four of their last five to elevate themselves back into the eight.

Votes:

3 – Lance Franklin (Hawthorn)

2 – Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)

1 – Grant Birchall (Hawthorn)

 

GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 13, Breust 3, Young 2, Lewis 2, Rioli 2, Puopolo 2, Roughead, Smith, Hale
North Melbourne: Wright 3, Edwards, Atley, Adams, Petrie, Wells, Swallow

BEST
Hawthorn: Franklin, Mitchell, Birchall, Sewell, Puopolo, Hale
North Melbourne: Wells, Grima, Wright, Adams

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Josh Gibson replaced by Bradley Hill in the third quarter.
North Melbourne: Kieran Harper replaced by Cruze Garlett in the third quarter.

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Chris Donlon, Brett Rosebury, Heath Ryan

Official crowd: 16,143 at Aurora Stadium