Hawthorn v St Kilda: Sam Mitchell stars as Hawks pip Saints

HAWTHORN 5.2 8.2 10.4 13.9 (87) ST KILDA 2.2 7.3 10.4 13.6 (84)
GOALS Hawthorn: Ceglar 2, Sicily 2, Breust 2, Puopolo 2, O’Brien 2, Rioli, Smith, Lewis. St Kilda: Minchington 2, Bruce 2, Riewoldt 2, McCartin 2, Armitage, Templeton, Lonie, Weller, Gilbert.
BEST Hawthorn: Mitchell, Ceglar, Frawley, Sicily, Langford, Lewis. St Kilda: Riewoldt, Lonie, Dempster, Bruce, Billings, Armitage, Savage.
INJURIES St Kilda: Geary (concussion).
UMPIRES Pannell, Stephens, Fisher.
CROWD 15,173 at Aurora Stadium.

St Kilda talked about asserting pressure in all the pre-game hype and that not even Hawthorn were immune to a hard tackle or being outnumbered around the ball.

In tight: Jonathon Ceglar marks the ball under pressure. Photo: Getty Images

Such thinking worked wonders against Collingwood a week earlier that led to the Saints controlling the spread on the expanses of the ground whose dimensions bare a remarkable resemblance to Aurora Stadium.

But Hawthorn, when it counted, almost strangely turned the hunters into the hunted and this proved the clear difference in the 13.9 (87) to 13.6 (84) victory.

Six of Hawthorn's 13 goals came from turnovers, including four in the first half that arguably flattered the reigning triple premiers' five-point advantage at the break.

Defenders Sam Fisher, Tom Lee and Sam Gilbert horribly missed key targets and Jarryn Geary's lack of awareness led to him being caught with the ball, handing Hawthorn goals far too easily.

Shane Savage was guilty twice, but it was the last of the turnovers with eight minutes remaining that glaringly drew a handful of Saints players to dispute the umpire's call that a Sean Dempster kick failed to cover the 15-metre distance.

After Jordan Lewis goaled from the turnover, Hawthorn again got the rub of the green later in the final term when the advantage was taken back and Paul Puopolo nailed a goal to extend the lead to 10 points.

The pressure on the Saints came in many forms and that included their last roll of the dice.

In just his ninth AFL game, Paddy McCartin first proved why the expectations have soared pretty high on the number-one draft pick.

The 194cm forward sailed high to pull down a pack mark that was the moment of the match.

Looking unfazed, McCartin went back with four minutes left but drifted his 35-metre kick slightly to the right side of the post.

That was the last chance St Kilda had as their seasoned opponents absorbed the pressure in the dying minutes, a trait made easier for sides with recent silverware stored in the bank.

St Kilda coach Alan Richardson said the last-term pressure was indicative of the difference between the two sides.

"I think they did go to another level," he said.

"(Luke) Hodge goes into the centre bounce and he gets the clearance and gets it going their way.

"Whenever they went forward, we struggled, we didn't rebound at all in the last quarter."

Returning just 19 days after breaking his arm the opening round clash on Easter Monday, Hodge went from general down back to commander in the middle when the game was in dispute.

His eight last-term disposals were more telling than the number.

Hodge's influence almost entirely stopped St Kilda's rebounding from end to end, that regardless of its clangers hurt the Hawks during the Saints' goal-laden periods.

"He was more influential in that part of the ground than what he has been in," Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said.

"We were just getting smashed for contested ball in the third quarter and we needed to put him in there to turn that in our favour."

Sam Mitchell starred with a breezy 44 touches for the game.

St Kilda inside midfielder Seb Ross went at him early but despite getting plenty of his own ball, Ross was unable to curb Mitchell's revered dominance.

But Clarkson rather played down the Hawks champion's statistics that included 31 handballs.

"Such was the pressure from the St Kilda side, he was forced to handball a lot," Clarkson said.

"He's a better player for us when he's kicking the ball rather than handballing.

"He had a lot of touches but two-thirds of those touches were handballs.

"That's indicative of the pressure that was applied by the opposition."