GOLD COAST 3.4 6.7 11.14 13.17 (95)
HAWTHORN 2.3 4.4 7.6 12.7 (79)
GOALS: Gold Coast - Matera 2, Ablett 2, Wright 2, Lynch 2, Ainsworth, Lyons, Martin, Barlow, Lemmens. Hawthorn - Gunston 5, O'Brien 2, McEvoy, Smith, Stewart, Henderson, Mitchell.
BEST: Gold Coast – Ablett, May, Hall, Saad, Lynch, Swallow, Hanley. Hawthorn – Gunston, Burgoyne, Mitchell, Smith, O'Brien.
INJURIES: Gold Coast – Miller (illness) replaced in selected side by Lonergan. Hawthorn – Gibson (groin), Hodge (groin) replaced in selected side by Stewart.
UMPIRES: Simon Meredith, Ray Chamberlain, Curtis Deboy, Leigh Fisher.
CROWD: 27,392 at MCG.
Hawthorn gave Gold Coast a nasty scare at the MCG on Saturday, and but for a controversial 50-metre penalty that broke a run of six Hawks goals might even have snatched an heroic victory. Compute that summary of a match between these two teams a year ago, or even two months ago, before the Suns smashed the Hawks by 86 points at Metricon Stadium to establish a new reality for both of them.
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Suns sneak home against Hawthorn
The Gold Coast Suns held off Hawthorn in a tense final quarter at the MCG.
Now, they're living it. For the Hawks, that means still just the four meagre wins for the season, a scattering of fans, the bare 27,000 of them, in what was once their impregnable Saturday afternoon domain, all howling at the umpires. Don't they remember when "free kick, Hawthorn" was a bit of an AFL in-joke, all of 12 months ago? But this is life in footy's nether regions.
And yet, the Hawks were gallant this day. They lost Luke Hodge and Luke Breust before the match, and had Isaac Smith and perhaps Josh Gibson operating at less than peak fitness during it, setbacks that would have stretched them even in the halcyon days. Still they gave it a shake. Jack Gunston's five goals were a throwback, but might also act as fresh start.
As coach Alastair Clarkson was keen to footnote at match's end, this wasn't really Hawthorn as we have come to know them anyway. Out there were only 12 players from last year's qualifying final, nine from the flag team the previous year. The balance were as Gold Coast are, with no laurels to rest on, out to make their own history.
Every now and then, other aspects of the old Hawks showed through, and just as quickly, they were snuffed out again. Symbolising this was a play mid-way through the third quarter when the Hawks were running the ball in their patent manner through the middle of the MCG, only for Will Langford to run unsighted and smack-bang into a Sean Lemmens tackle, hurting him and making Hawthorn ache, too.
But the Hawks were undaunted. Late in the third quarter and early in the last, they began to win this match in the clinches, and suddenly the goals flowed. A brace each for Tim O'Brien and Gunston brought victory within reach, only for it to recede again. But here's an open question: which of these teams would you prefer to coach henceforth? Perhaps Clarkson fancies a bit of sun, sand and surf next year?
Not so fast, Rodney Eade would say. He still has work to do, a job to complete. In lots of ways, the Suns dominated this contest: more clearances, more of the ball generally, 30 scoring shots to 19, which was about the size of it. They would always have the advantage in run anyway, as demonstrated early in the first quarter when Adam Saad ran three-quarters of the length of the ground to thwart Smith, and a teammate, with a goal begging. It never was kicked.
The Suns' pillars of Hercules, Steven May and Tom Lynch, were what they have become, a constant threat at one end, a stumbling block at the other. Their ruckmen, Peter Wright and Jarrod Witts, were mobile midfielders. At times, they looked a complete team.
But a chronic laxness in defence let the Hawks in for simple marks and soft goals. The Suns were also too easily pushed onto the back foot as the desperate Hawks came at them, reducing a 43-point margin to nine with half the last quarter to play. If Hawthorn are a team whose self-belief has not quite died, the Suns are one whose belief has not yet solidified.
Crucially, Gary Ablett was marooned on the bench for eight minutes as Hawthorn rushed at the Suns. His belated return was the game's last juncture. In the end, his ageless poise and a bit of happenstance saved the Suns. Ben Ainsworth marked in the forward pocket, missed with his jittery kick, but was given a 50-metre penalty for some sort of Hawthorn encroachment into the protected area, and kicked again from the goal line.
Now the Hawks fans' anguish knew no bounds. Nor did Clarkson's, though he bit down hard on diplomacy. It was the sort of stroke of ill-fortune that befalls struggling teams. It was the sort of stroke that used to befall the Suns every other week.
But the boot now is on the other foot.
VOTES
Gary Ablett (Gold Coast) 8
Steven May (Gold Coast) 7
Jack Gunston (Hawthorn) 6
Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn) 6
Aaron Hall (Gold Coast) 6