Freo matched Hawthorn in the midfield battle for much of Saturday, but failed to quell the impact of the Hawks' experienced ball winners in the second half, according to Michael Walters.
Walters continues to be a welcome addition to Freo’s midfield, the talented goal sneak has moved further up the ground in recent weeks and had another strong game, finishing with 26 touches and two goals against the Hawks.
Walters said that Freo’s pressure was good, their inability to sustain it in the second half proved costly.
“In the first half it was pretty intense, and we needed to match them and I thought we did that in the first half,” Walters said.
“In the second half we let them slip away a bit.
“They took their chances and got the ball forward and when they do that we all know they’re a very dangerous team.
Despite the result, Walters said he was pleased with Freo’s midfield - which contained a number of youngsters - and their endeavour against an experienced Hawthorn midfield.
“I thought we fought on really well and matched it with them but they’re an experienced team and were able to push away.”
Hawthorn proved their knowledge of Aurora Stadium, taking advantage of their Tasmanian venue with an eight goal third quarter when kicking with the wind.
Despite difficult conditions, Walters said the wind was no excuse for Freo’s skill errors in what proved to be a crucial third quarter.
“I kicked a few out on the full myself, so the wind did prove to be pretty tricky,” he said.
“That being said, Hawthorn played against that wind as well so there are no excuses.
“We just have to continue to work on our ball movement, move on and set our focus on Richmond next week.”
