Cyril Rioli slots his third.
Hawthorn 5.6 11.11 20.20 28.25 (193)
GWS Giants 1.2 2.4 3.5 4.7 (31)
A magical performance from Cyril Rioli and the 500-goal milestone achieved by Lance Franklin were the only things notable as Hawthorn annihilated GWS by 162 points. The Hawks thoroughly routed the Giants through strong defensive pressure and simple denial of the ball, as shown by the mere four goals the Giants managed to score in the match.
The Hawks’ dominance was emphasised by the performance of their midfield, with an astonishing nine players achieving more than 25 disposals, with the side running at an incredible 87% disposal efficiency. This lead to dominance in the inside 50 count as well as scoreboard dominance.
Hawthorn’s forwards took advantage of this dominance, with Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Rioli and Luke Breust all scoring multiple goals. But this was matched by the rest of the side, with 14 of Hawthorn’s 22 players scoring majors on the day. This dominance came to the fore as the Giants tired, with most of the scoreboard damage done in the second half with 17 of their 28 goals.
There was only really one bright spot for the Giants with the performance of Toby Greene, who managed to pick up 34 disposals in a tagging role on Sam Mitchell. While unable to necessarily negate Mitchell’s effect due to the Hawks’ dominance all over the ground, Greene’s performance at least gives Giants fans a ray of light from such a dramatic thrashing.
Hawthorn face the Bulldogs at Etihad while GWS will face Adelaide at Skoda Stadium next week.
GOALS
Hawthorn: Roughead 6, Franklin 4, Breust 3, Rioli 3, Young 2, Hale 2, Savage, Lewis, Gunston, Shiels, Murphy, Suckling, Mitchell, Puopolo
Greater Western Sydney: Cornes 2, Wilson, Adams
BEST
Hawthorn: Rioli, Suckling, Birchall, Lewis, Shiels, Roughead, Mitchell
GWS: Greene, Coniglio, Cornes, Adams
Votes:
3) Cyril Rioli
2) Sam Mitchell
1) Jarryd Roughead
Crowd
26,518 at the MCG
