Using the wind
The notorious Tasmanian breeze was in full effect in Saturday’s game, and proved to be a 19th man for whoever was kicking with it.
Kicking with the breeze proved beneficial, as the inside 50 count was 67 to 34 when with the wind and this translated on the scoreboard as 20.17 (137) being kicked to one end, as opposed to only 8.6 (54).
Hit outs not to advantage
Freo won the hit out count 54 to 47 but were unable to translate that into effective clearances as they only won the clearance count by one and many of these came late in the game.
Against a quality team like Hawthorn it’s important to take full advantage of your strengths and Freo weren’t able to turn the upper hand in the ruck into productive ball use going into the forward line.
Alex Pearce continues to perform
A tough three-week stretch for the young defender concluded against Hawthorn as he matched up for much of the game with Jack Gunston. Pearce acquitted himself well against the Hawk spearhead, rarely losing one-on-one matchups and kept Gunston relatively quiet throughout the game. Gunston finished with only two goals when matched on the young defender.
Pearce also finished the game with 10 disposals and four marks
Walters continues to show midfield ability
Michael Walters finished with 26 disposals and two goals against Hawthorn and was one of Freo’s best against the reigning premiers. While ‘Sonny’ has always shown his ability as a forward, he has continued to grow into his midfield role and is more consistently finding the football around the ground.
Premiership Quarter
Freo had no answer for Hawthorn in a third quarter display that proved to be the difference in the game. The Hawks kicked 8.7 to 0.2 in the third quarter and used their knowledge of Aurora Stadium to their advantage as they utilised the wind to great effect.
