“Absolutely rapt”: Hawthorn coach sings praises for in-form veteran

Under clear skies on the hallowed turf of the MCG on Saturday afternoon, premiership contenders Hawthorn spluttered their way through three quarters against a gallant Demons outfit before finding their gears and racing away with a 35-point win in a less-than-convincing manner.

Hawthorn's win over the Demons was the first triumph against one of their bogey teams, with their last win over the Dees dating back to Round 4 of 2018.

The match also marked Sam Mitchell's first-ever victory over the Demons since he took the reins as head coach in 2022.

Sitting at 7-2 to start the season for the first time since 2013 and being firmly entrenched in the top 4, the Hawks are yet to hit their straps and play their free flowing football this season, however have been able to win dour and tough when it is needed, which Mitchell sees as a positive.

“It was always going to be a difficult game; I was as frustrated as anyone at three-quarter-time, we just couldn't get anything going and the game was a mess,” Mitchell stated after the 35-point win.

“We stuck with the same thing for a long time and thought eventually we would break the game open. It happened in the last quarter.

“That last part of the game, it obviously opened up a bit and that seemed to suit us a bit more.

“We know we need to be able to compete in different manners; we've set our season up quite well as far as the ladder goes.

“We haven't put together this striking, amazing footy that blows teams away.

“We've been close to the highest pressure team in the competition, so we are getting down and dirty when we need to and being able to win in a really tough and physical most weeks.

“Other than the first half against Port Adelaide, we've sort of been in every contest, every quarter and that's what good teams want to be.

“We're getting closer to what we want to be.”

With a host of first-choice midfielders missing, including Will Day, Conor Nash and Cam Mackenzie not featuring in the Round 9 clash, the Hawks faced a tough task at stoppages, competing against the likes of Max Gawn, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver.

Oliver, who missed the Demons' win against the Eagles the week prior, was given the task of nullifying young gun Jai Newcombe.

Newcombe was well held for most of the game, leaving James Worpel to lead the charge for the Hawks midfield in a consistent four-quarter performance.

Worpel, who is out of contract at the end of the year as a free agent, was superb for the Hawks, amassing 28 disposals, 10 tackles and six clearances in an effort that drew praise from Mitchell.

“The thing about Worps is it doesn't matter how everyone else is playing, he just plays the same way. Sometimes when the rest of the team aren't going well or not clicking, it's Worps that's the consistent player through that period.”

“If you look at the early part of last year where we weren't playing well at all and the midfield was getting well beaten, he was the one that was really standing up.

“I think at half-time, we were in front but only just, and a lot of it was off the back of his good work. The rest of the team came along after that, but he is the one that was the most consistent across the four quarters.”

The Dees had the ascendancy for large portions of the game but were let down by some errant kicking at goals as well as some desperation from the Hawks defenders, in particular Changkuoth Jiath, who showed the form he was displaying during the pre-season.

Jiath, who was dropped from the side earlier in the year, has produced a strong fortnight of football and is starting to show consistency at AFL level, making him a valuable asset for Sam Mitchell's side.

“The thing that I've been so rapt with him is his consistency of his contest," Mitchell said.

“He had a spoil that I wasn't sure he was going to get up from.

“He's just so athletic and using it in such a positive way for the team, so I'm really pleased he's come into the side.

“He's another guy who had to go out of the side and find a bit of form but did it with great attitude.

“Changkuoth has done a great job of taking his opportunity this time around and we're excited about what he's going to produce in the future.”

With the game not being played on their terms for much of the contest, the Hawks found their form in the fourth quarter, kicking 41 points, with Jack Gunston kicking his three majors for the day all in the last, including a 50-metre bomb that had the crowd on their feet.

33-year-old Gunston, who kicked 3.4 for the day and had 10 score involvements from his 14 touches, continued to show his importance to the Hawthorn line-up as he rocketed to second place on the Coleman Medal ladder.

“Someone told me that he's second in the Coleman and wasn't playing for us at the start of the year,” Mitchell said.

“The thing with Jack is the influence that he has off the field has always been the focus since he came back to the club.”

“The fact that he is having such a significant influence on the field is certainly not something we planned for from a list management point of view.

“We weren't thinking that Jack Gunston would be our leading goal kicker. I'm absolutely rapt for him that he is doing that.”

The Hawks now face a 5 day break before their next clash against the Gold Coast Suns at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Mitchell said that the club will look at managing the short turnaround and travel for the game, but has stated the team will be missing experienced half-back Jarman Impey, who will be staying in Melbourne for the birth of his first child, while other decisions are still to be made.

“Jarman Impey won't make that trip (to Darwin), his partner's due date is fast approaching and being that far away is not a risk we want to take; family is certainly first," Mitchell said.

“Whether we do that with a couple of others, we will make the assessment in the next 48 hours.”

The Hawks fly out Monday with an extended team for the clash in the Northern Territory to celebrate the start of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, where they are hoping to use the extended preparation to allow them to adapt to the conditions.

“We'll take quite a big squad to Darwinto make that assessment across the week," Mitchell said.

"We get Tom Barrass back into the side. We have started planning. We are going up on Monday, where we will do some training there.

“We went there a couple of years ago and we didn't handle it as well as we thought as a club.

"We're looking forward to going up to Darwin and giving one of the in-form teams in the competition a shake."

The Thursday night game against the Suns will kick start the Sir Doug Nicholls round in a mouth-watering clash between two of the premiership fancies this season.