Past results and Hawthorn’s strong record at Aurora Stadium won’t dictate the outcome in Fremantle’s clash with the Hawks on Saturday, according to senior coach Ross Lyon.
Freo are yet to beat Hawthorn at the Tasmanian venue, but Lyon said previous meetings would count for nothing, stating that both teams have changed greatly this year.
“Fortunately, the past doesn’t dictate the future,” Lyon said.
“They’re not the same Hawks, they have some different personnel and we’re different as well.
“They’re in really good form, and really hit their straps in the last quarter against Richmond (last week).
“They were really impressive with their run, and their hunger was evident to see.”
Halting Hawthorn's forward line firepower
Lyon said Freo wouldn’t take any drastic approach to beat the Hawks, and said cleaning up the basics would give them the best shot to defeat the reigning premiers.
“We want to execute the basics a bit better, kick those running goals and those set shots (that we’ve missed),” he said.
“Early on you think, ‘what happened?’ (against GWS) and it was as simple as a broken tackle on (Stephen) Coniglio for their first goal and a contested mark where we didn’t spoil.
“It’s not a complicated process, it’s about (preventing) dropped marks, broken tackles and fumbles to play good football.”
The prospect of playing Hawthorn in Tasmania is a tough challenge, but Lyon sees it as a good opportunity for Freo’s younger players to stand up against the benchmark of the AFL.
“We’re obviously looking to give opportunities,” he said.
“We think Ed Langdon will play this week, we want to give Connor Blakely more time in the midfield, and we’ll stick with Ethan Hughes.
“Even though he (Hughes) fumbled a bit (last week), there were some good signs and we think he’s going to be a really good AFL player.”
While emerging tall Tanner Smith has impressed in the WAFL so far in 2016, Lyon said elevating the 196cm key forward from the rookie list wasn’t something Freo had considered.
“Our head of development Peter Sumich recommends them (for elevation) and has basically said he’s not ready yet.”
