Belief is growing at Hawthorn that their AFL rebuild might be turning quickly into something much more this season.
Hawthorn weathered the early Dustin Martin storm in Saturday’s twilight game at the MCG, managing the enormity of his 300-game occasion and then crushing Richmond by 48 points.
The Tigers had legitimate hopes of an upset to mark the milestone, given they had upset Adelaide last week and also pushed Essendon and Geelong in the previous games.
But once Martin brought the house down with the first goal of the game, Hawthorn settled superbly and controlled the contest.
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After losing their opening five games of the season, the Hawks are 7-7 and rapidly closing on the top eight.
“I was rapt with the way we handled that moment – it could have easily pulled us apart, but it didn’t,” Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said of Martin’s goal.
“Sometimes, particularly in the last couple of years, it’s been ‘I hope we can do these things’, whereas there’s a little bit more belief now – not just from me, but from the players in particular.”
But as he has repeatedly over the last few weeks, Mitchell reiterated post-match that they are far from the finished product.
As Hawthorn go into the mid-season bye, Mitchell also noted that late-season fatigue could also be an issue for his young side.
“There’s a lot of stuff in our game that wasn’t as sharp as we’re going need to be, to play against the Sydneys of the world,” he said.
“We re-set our season, and can a young group continue to drive (their progress … if I’m honest, I’m a bit disappointed we have the bye, because we have some momentum and belief.”
Former Richmond key forward Mabior Chol kicked four goals, while Hawks defenders James Sicily, James Weddle and Jack Scrimshaw dominated.
Onballer Tim Taranto, who kicked a freakish goal in the opening term, was a rare shining light for Richmond, while key forward Tom Lynch made a quiet return in his first senior game since round four.
Richmond also have a bye and have much to work through.
“Realistically, it was only a step back in the second half,” coach Adem Yze said.
“Their polish was just a lot better than ours.”
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