Lloyd Meek down to Jai Newcombe, who exploded out the front of stoppage and sent it deep to Mitch Lewis. Lewis created a predictable drop for the dynamic Connor MacDonald, who snapped Hawthorn's third goal in three minutes early in the last quarter last weekend.
It was arguably the match-winner, sapping Gold Coast and extending the margin to 25 points.
Hawthorn scored 32 points from centre stoppages against the Suns after concerning signs at centre stoppages in the weeks leading into the bye.
“We've worked on centre bounce for a considerable part of the year and we're starting to see change in there which has been positive,” Hawthorn midfield coach David Mackay told Zero Hanger.
“We'll keep going after it. You have to continually be giving yourself the best opportunity in there and all the craft you do around that specific part of the game tells over a period of time.”
Earlier in the season, the Hawks fell away significantly late in the game against Fremantle, did not capitalise on their clearances in a close loss to Western Bulldogs and started terribly in that area against Adelaide
Will Day's return has been timely, with Hawthorn winning just one of the four games prior to his return, and he provided a reminder of his talent last Friday night and looks primed for a big finish to the season after his shoulder injury.
Skipper Jai Newcombe has reinforced his credentials as a bona fide on-baller in 2026.
But whether the club has a strong and deep enough midfield around that pair to go all the way in 2026 has been a point of contention since images of an exasperated Tom Petroro emerged from Marvel Stadium at the end of the 2025 AFL Trade Period as it became clear his client, Zach Merrett, would not be a Hawk this year.
“I won't be getting into individual players but what I do now is our list management has been pretty open about trying to improve our list…we're going to try and do that at season's end,” Mitchell said on Channel 7's Agenda Setters on Monday.
Be that as it may, it won't help them hoist a 14th flag in 2026, putting the onus on the young midfielders to step up and assist Newcombe and Day.
Personnel
Hawthorn's likely starting three in the midfield in September will be Will Day, Jai Newcombe and Conor Nash, with Josh Ward, Cam MacKenzie, Nick Watson and Connor MacDonald among the players capable of rotating in.
Newcombe is arguably a top 10 player in the game now and he provides individual brilliance and thrives in big moments, while even on limited minutes, Day has quickly added liveliness to the mix.
ANALYSIS: DAVID MACKAY ON WILL DAY
By comparison, Fremantle has Andrew Brayshaw, Hayden Young, Caleb Serong, Murphy Reid and Shai Bolton as its best five. Sydney has Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Errol Gulden, Justin McInerney, James Rowbottom and Tom Papley.
Mitchell staunchly refuted the notion following the loss to Western Bulldogs that Hawthorn does not have enough midfield depth. Ward and MacKenzie don't have the star-power of Sydney and Fremantle's depth midfielders, yet their chemistry and compliance with role has lifted Hawthorn this year. Gold Coast's stuttering season is evidence that too many stars can cause accountability issues.
“The midfield mix, if you line the names up, they're not pick 1 and pick 2 but they do have a level of ability to play for and with each other and they complement each other,” Mitchell said following last Friday's win over Gold Coast.
“Josh Ward's running power is impressive but then someone like Cam MacKenzie his ball use around congestion and cleanliness is important for us and I think the mix along with the two rucks gives us an unpredictable look for opposition.”
There is a significant gulf about how Ward, in particular, is rated internally compared to externally.
After a breakout game in a semi final win last year which capped off a season where he was named Hawthorn's most improved player, there is great confidence about what he offers as he has narrowed the gap between his best and worst games and found ways to impact when not at his best.
Connor MacDonald has had a breakout year, attending 27 per cent of centre ball-ups, having never gone to more than five per cent in his previous six years. He spent all of pre-season training as a midfielder.
He has averaged 20 disposals, three tackles and two clearances per game.
“We love giving him opportunity in there because he provides a point of difference with his running capacity and ability to go from inside to out,” MacKay said of MacDonald.
“He's worked hard on his contest game and it's at a strong level. We would love to keep giving him opportunity in there but we love him forward of the ball because he gets involved in our scoring chains and is so dangerous so it's a balance.”
Watson, meanwhile, has a licence to go in occasionally but is the Hawks' most important forward.
When asked whether he considered adding Watson into the midfield mix late in the Dogs' loss, Mitchell said: He's one of the aces up our sleeve that gives us that (ability to score).”
In essence, losing Watson the forward is too big a price to pay to have Watson the midfielder for anything beyond a very short spurt.
ANALYSIS: EXCLUSIVE: WATSON THE MIDFIELDER? KEY FIGURE HAS HIS SAY
