The conditions at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium were superb with bright sunshine and only a minor cross breeze to contend with.
Mitchell won the toss and Hawthorn were immediately awarded a free allowing them to surge forward for Roughead to take a handball in the square and goal before the Dogs had even touched the ball. From there the Dogs regrouped and scored the next three as they took control in general play with contributions from Akermanis, Cooney and Griffen leading the way. The Dogs were slowing down Hawthorn’s run from defence forcing them to look for shorter targets until a mistake was made returning possession to the Bulldogs. Unfortunately a late clanger kick from Cross had Roughead receive from the turnover and bomb a second goal from 50.
The Dogs opened strongly in the second but scored behinds before errant handling in the middle of a ball from Tommy Williams allowed Hawthorn to go forward to an unattended Franklin for an easy goal. The next Hawthorn foray forward saw Lake take a great defensive mark but play on with a poor handball and eventually Cross handballed poorly back inside for Franklin to swoop and run in for a second gift goal that put Hawthorn back in front. The Doggies got their game back in order for Welsh to take a strong contested mark at 55 and Jordan Lewis with a complete brain fade kicked the ball away to concede a 50 metre penalty and the lead back to the dogs.
From that point the Dogs took control with terrific tackling and continued pressure on Hawthorn ball carriers. Welsh had 3 goals to half time. An Eagleton goal to close the half came from a superb left foot pass from Gilbee. Mitchell was getting first hands to a lot of centre ball but the pressure from the Dogs was preventing him having a real influence. The second quarter had seen 2 concerning incidents as Bobby Murphy was reported for a bump on Ellis where he had basically braced himself only for Ellis to collide with him and go down heavily. Brad Johnson had also gone down after getting up from a contest with blood from his eye only to collapse 10 to 15 metres away. Sammmy Mitchell showed great sportsmanship as the nearest Hawthorn player as he called the umpires attention to allow the play to stop. There was a little niggle as the players left the ground at half time but the general impression was that the Dogs had wasted some chances and Hawthorn were closer that the run of play merited.
After half time the Dogs seemed to retain control but again failed to convert before Roughead scored his fourth for Hawthorn and, after Welsh missed an easy chance after a strong mark, Franklin finally was able to take a mark in front of Williams and convert with a follow up goal from Taylor to bring Hawthorn back within 8 points. The Doggies were able to steady and Gilbee made a great effort to get to and take a great mark at 50. He then highlighted his superb kicking skills by putting it through the middle form outside the arc. The Dogs followed up with goals to Cooney after a pass from Johnson and Welsh after a strong mark in the goal square to re-establish the half time break. Franklin took a strong mark under pressure from Williams for his fourth but this was answered by Griffen who marked a Murphy kick in the goal square.
Hawthorn again scored the first major in the last quarter when Franklin converted from a mark on 50 but the Dogs were able to respond to every challenge and despite missing some gettable shots they won every quarter with contributors all over the ground.
Cooney and Griffen were again terrific around the packs and the ability of Mathew Boyd to keep the pressure on Mitchell was also important. Aker was also again a terrific player. The defensive pressure around the contest applied by the Dogs really prevented Hawthorn penetrating their forward 50 with any regularity. The Hawthorn gun forwards Franklin (5 goals) and Roughead (4) were still beaten in one on one contests with Tom Williams worthy of a special mention for a magnificent effort on Franklin. Lindsay Gilbee played probably his best of the year with some good desperation in defence to go with some great offensive set up and the return of his brilliant ball use. Stephen Tiller was a terrific contributor with marks, tackles and a general presentation. Dylan Addison also showed good desperation, but blotted his performance with about 3 disposal errors leading to turnovers and Daniel Cross was also responsible for a similar number. Farren Ray was an improved effort. Tim Callan left the ground injured and it would appear unlikely that he could come up for next week.
Overall a great win from the Dogs with 22 contributors.
Mitchell won the toss and Hawthorn were immediately awarded a free allowing them to surge forward for Roughead to take a handball in the square and goal before the Dogs had even touched the ball. From there the Dogs regrouped and scored the next three as they took control in general play with contributions from Akermanis, Cooney and Griffen leading the way. The Dogs were slowing down Hawthorn’s run from defence forcing them to look for shorter targets until a mistake was made returning possession to the Bulldogs. Unfortunately a late clanger kick from Cross had Roughead receive from the turnover and bomb a second goal from 50.
The Dogs opened strongly in the second but scored behinds before errant handling in the middle of a ball from Tommy Williams allowed Hawthorn to go forward to an unattended Franklin for an easy goal. The next Hawthorn foray forward saw Lake take a great defensive mark but play on with a poor handball and eventually Cross handballed poorly back inside for Franklin to swoop and run in for a second gift goal that put Hawthorn back in front. The Doggies got their game back in order for Welsh to take a strong contested mark at 55 and Jordan Lewis with a complete brain fade kicked the ball away to concede a 50 metre penalty and the lead back to the dogs.
From that point the Dogs took control with terrific tackling and continued pressure on Hawthorn ball carriers. Welsh had 3 goals to half time. An Eagleton goal to close the half came from a superb left foot pass from Gilbee. Mitchell was getting first hands to a lot of centre ball but the pressure from the Dogs was preventing him having a real influence. The second quarter had seen 2 concerning incidents as Bobby Murphy was reported for a bump on Ellis where he had basically braced himself only for Ellis to collide with him and go down heavily. Brad Johnson had also gone down after getting up from a contest with blood from his eye only to collapse 10 to 15 metres away. Sammmy Mitchell showed great sportsmanship as the nearest Hawthorn player as he called the umpires attention to allow the play to stop. There was a little niggle as the players left the ground at half time but the general impression was that the Dogs had wasted some chances and Hawthorn were closer that the run of play merited.
After half time the Dogs seemed to retain control but again failed to convert before Roughead scored his fourth for Hawthorn and, after Welsh missed an easy chance after a strong mark, Franklin finally was able to take a mark in front of Williams and convert with a follow up goal from Taylor to bring Hawthorn back within 8 points. The Doggies were able to steady and Gilbee made a great effort to get to and take a great mark at 50. He then highlighted his superb kicking skills by putting it through the middle form outside the arc. The Dogs followed up with goals to Cooney after a pass from Johnson and Welsh after a strong mark in the goal square to re-establish the half time break. Franklin took a strong mark under pressure from Williams for his fourth but this was answered by Griffen who marked a Murphy kick in the goal square.
Hawthorn again scored the first major in the last quarter when Franklin converted from a mark on 50 but the Dogs were able to respond to every challenge and despite missing some gettable shots they won every quarter with contributors all over the ground.
Cooney and Griffen were again terrific around the packs and the ability of Mathew Boyd to keep the pressure on Mitchell was also important. Aker was also again a terrific player. The defensive pressure around the contest applied by the Dogs really prevented Hawthorn penetrating their forward 50 with any regularity. The Hawthorn gun forwards Franklin (5 goals) and Roughead (4) were still beaten in one on one contests with Tom Williams worthy of a special mention for a magnificent effort on Franklin. Lindsay Gilbee played probably his best of the year with some good desperation in defence to go with some great offensive set up and the return of his brilliant ball use. Stephen Tiller was a terrific contributor with marks, tackles and a general presentation. Dylan Addison also showed good desperation, but blotted his performance with about 3 disposal errors leading to turnovers and Daniel Cross was also responsible for a similar number. Farren Ray was an improved effort. Tim Callan left the ground injured and it would appear unlikely that he could come up for next week.
Overall a great win from the Dogs with 22 contributors.
