Mitchell praises ruck, under-fire Hawks duo respond against Bombers

The double ruck tactic is here to stay at Hawthorn after a dominant win over rivals Essendon on Friday night.

Against high-leaping rookie Bombers ruck Lachie Blakiston, Hawthorn's Ned Reeves was recalled to the side and showed his class around the ground, registering 17 hit outs, four clearances, 12 disposals and two goals.

Hawks coach Sam Mitchell lauded the work of Reeves, who combined well with fellow ruck Lloyd Meek to help dismantle the Bombers' engine room.

"We haven't used the double rucks in quite a long time, and obviously there is a little bit of risk, but Ned has been a really high performer even though he hasn't played a lot of AFL footy in the last 18 months," Mitchell said.

"He has been working on his craft, he has improved his footy, and I was really happy for him, and from a selfish point of view, I was really happy for us because he was a really strong performer tonight. Certainly, we will be sticking with the two rucks."

Another pair of Hawks who shone under MCG lights were Dylan Moore (24 disposals and a goal) and Connor Macdonald (24 disposals and two goals) - both fresh off a week spent on the back page of the paper following news that broke of them being arrested in the United States over pre-season.

Mitchell said he was proud of the duo's response on the big stage in front of a crowd of 70,000.

"I was really pleased with the lads," he said. "Obviously, it has been a massive week for them on an individual basis.

"You had two young men on the front and back pages of the papers. There have been a lot of eyeballs on them and a lot of self-consciousness about how they have gone about it; a lot of explaining to do.

"To be able to perform at a high level with all of that around you, I am proud that they were able to do that."

The Hawks broke the game open in the second quarter as their interceptions and rebounding dissected the Bombers.

After struggling with that aspect of their game in the Opening Round against Greater Western Sydney, Mitchell said transitioning the ball from defence to attack was a major focus during the week.

"We knew (Essendon's) centre bounce work, in particular, was really strong, so we were really prepared for a backline transition game," he said. 

"Our backline transition was really poor last week, and we weren't able to challenge the Giants anywhere near enough, and I thought we got closer to our best tonight."