Round 9 Preview V Hawthorn
Written by Jamie Samuel
Carlton will take on Hawthorn on Friday evening at Optus Stadium, on a rare occasion where two games will be played on a Friday night, at 5:40pm.
This clash looms a huge opportunity for the Blues to continue their form. They enter this round following a scrappy win in wet conditions against North Melbourne, where they dug deep despite the challenge from a struggling Kangaroos outfit to square the ledger at 4-4 after 8 rounds. This puts Teague’s men in a very ideal position for an ever-improving side, entering round 9 placed 11th on the table.
Hawthorn enter this clash with a 3-5 record, most recently losing in a heartbreaking 6 point clash to the Sydney Swans in a Tom Papley inspired performance. The start of the season looked very promising for the Hawks, winning 3 out of their first 4 games. However, after their round 4 win against North Melbourne, they enter round 9 with four consecutive losses and a place of 15th.
Ever since 2005, Hawthorn have really had the wood over the Blues. Between 2005-2017 Hawthorn won every single clash with the Blues. That streak came to an end in Round 22, 2017, in a Carlton inspired performance at Etihad Stadium. It was a 7 point triumph led by Jed Lamb, one of the best for the Blues, as well as Marc Murphy with 34 touches and Sam Docherty with 31. For the Hawks, Tom Mitchell was a possession machine, racking up 44 touches, whilst Billy Hartung had 32 of his own.
These two teams met in round 6 last year in what was a heartbreaker for Carlton, who led early in the second quarter by 36 points. It was a dominant start for the Blues, with Harry McKay and Mitch McGovern leading the way up forward. Hawthorn stormed back hard in the second half, kicking 6 goals to 1 in the 3rd quarter, eventually taking the lead in the last quarter by as much as 14 points. Carlton once again threw one last roll of the dice. With less than a minute to play, Hawthorn led by a straight kick, as Zac Fisher desperately tried to salvage a draw but his kick hit the post and the siren beat McKay who marked inside 50 a second too late, as Hawthorn came back and held on by 5 points.
The Round 22 triumph in 2017 is still the only time in 15 years Carlton have beaten Hawthorn. Based on current form however, Carlton will start favourites.
As mentioned, last time he played the Hawks, Docherty had a night out. With him back in the side and Lachie Plowman in form, along with the upcoming Sam Walsh, Michael Gibbons and Levi Casboult doing his bit up forward, it is a huge opportunity for Carlton to turn the ledger into a positive win ratio, going 5-4. However, they will have to lift their game, as Hawthorn will be desperate for a win to end their month-long winless drought. Hopefully the young Carlton team will stand up and play four consistent quarters of footy and come away with a win.