Fremantle Dockers forward Hayden Ballantyne said Freo were well aware of the threat presented by Hawthorn’s bevy of goal kickers.
With Luke Breust coming off a career-high six-goal haul against Richmond, Paul Puopolo kicking 15 goals in seven games as well as the ever-present threat of Cyril Rioli, Ballantyne said it would take a team approach from Freo to supress Hawthorn’s scoring ability.
“Obviously they’re great players,” Ballantyne said.
“They can all kick a bag of goals, so the defenders will have to be on their toes during the game.
“But we need to help them with pressure both in the midfield and in our forward line to keep it down there.”
Four-quarter performance required
While Ballantyne said pressure is at the forefront of Freo’s mindset every week, he said it holds particular importance given Hawthorn’s renowned ball use.
“It’s (pressure) massive every week, but the Hawks are the benchmark,” he said.
“We’ll bring the same attitude we have been and hopefully we’ll improve again.”
Ballantyne said the prospect of one of the longest road trips in the AFL wouldn’t deter Freo, and that they would embrace the challenge of facing Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, where the Hawks have won 16 of their past 17 games.
“It’s always a tough game to travel to Tasmania, but we love a challenge and we want to improve so we can’t wait to get down there and have a go.”
