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.
Turning momentum in game
Hawthorn trailed by two goals at quarter time of its match against Adelaide and should have been far further behind.
Last week against the Suns, there were some big momentum swings, including a five-goal burst to the hosts either side of halftime before the Hawks upped the pressure and dictated terms for much of the second half.
“We'd like to not have those patches but we understand we're not going to get the perfect game all the time and have it on our terms for four quarters but minimising the damage when momentum is against us and fighting out of that, we've been reasonably happy with,” MacKay said.
That ability to rectify in-game and limit the damage when they aren't controlling the game underlines the maturity of the group with Newcombe's leadership around the footy a key part of that.
By contrast, when Hawthorn get the momentum, they are able to capitalise – four goals in the first seven minutes against Port Adelaide before the Power settled into the contest was a commanding statement of their potency.
“Against the best teams we understand we have to be able to not give up those patches of momentum where we concede three or four goals really quickly so it's a work in progress, but we've been pleased with the ability to turn momentum when we've needed to,” MacKay added.
