Hawthorn Hawks coach Sam Mitchell takes a swipe at call that cost Nick Watson a goal in their win at Marvel Stadium against Ross Lyon and the St Kilda Saints
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has hit out at a referee call that denied striker Nick Watson a half-time goal on a night when the Marvel Stadium surface came under fire for being too slippery under a closed roof.
Mitchell said he was pleased Watson’s go-ahead goal did not affect his team’s 52-point win (18.11 (119) 9.13 (67)) but said the club would go to the AFL to find an explanation.
Watson scored from the front right pocket after the half-time siren, but the referees decided that he had crossed his line and did not accept the score.
“There’s no common sense approach to this,” Mitchell said. “I hope to get a response from the AFL, I’m sure we will.”
Mitchell said the rule makes sense when players swing towards the middle of the ground to open the angle, but not when the right-footer kicks from the right pocket.
“There is absolutely no reason for a player to move wider (on that side) to give himself an advantage,” Mitchell said.
“It doesn’t look like he went over the line too much, but that’s the referee’s decision and I can accept that, but the fact that you can go off the line and go towards the boundary and it’s called a carry on… there’s no common sense about that.
“Why would he run wider to give himself a harder shot and keep playing? It didn’t make much sense.”
“I’m happy it’s in a game where individual little points don’t matter, but hopefully that’s something that’s been rectified.”
Watson spoke to Kayo Sports in the chambers after the match.
“Don’t provoke me,” he said when asked about the incident.
“They are very keen to blow the whistle.
“Actually, I won’t say anything about the referees. I might get penalized.”
When asked how the Hawks forced St Kilda into so many costly turnovers and managed to keep them goalless in the first half, Mitchell pointed out the conditions were slippery.
“I’m not sure exactly why…it was pretty wet,” he said. “It looks funny that we were playing inside and it was wet, but even during the warm-up it was pretty slippery underfoot.”
Saints coach Ross Lyon also noticed the wet conditions.
“Look, I’m just rolling my eyes,” he said after the game. But both teams had to play.”
When asked if the middle part of the ground was wetter and the wings were drier, Lyon said: “I’m not sure. I didn’t dive. I knew it was wet, though.”
Lyon said it could not comment on whether circumstances played any role in Sam Flanders suffering a season-ending Achilles injury during the game.
Flanders was handed the ball in the air, but when it landed on his right foot he immediately stood up and collapsed to the ground. He then made his way to the bench with the help of St Kilda coaches.
“I leave that to the sports scientists and medics,” Lyon said about the cause of Flanders’ injury.
“Honestly, I can’t comment. I think it’s my fault and my mistake.
“I really try to stay in my lane in a lot of places.”
As his players warmed up before the match, Lyon joked that the reason he kept feeling the surface of Marvel Stadium had nothing to do with the condition of the ground but “good luck”.
“And it didn’t work,” he added.
“Honestly, I think this will have a negative impact. [how good the Hawks were]They played really well tonight, they were really clean, they were tough and that’s the level [we need to get to].”
Lyon said the Saints were too quick to use the ball “regularly” in the first half, given the conditions.
Hawthorn scored eight goals in the first two quarters, four of which came from Jack Gunston, who leads the Coleman Medal standings at the age of 34.
However, Saints tried to gain some momentum after the long break by moving Jack Silvagni forward (three goals), Jack Sinclair into midfield, Darcy Wilson down the wing, Brad Hill at halfback and Callum Wilkie up the last line of defence.
In the first and second quarters, Gunston dragged Wilkie so far into the Hawthorn offense that they fell short of the goal line.
“We will continue to fight and we know we want to play more in the second half,” Lyon said.
“For our fans, we have failed you and it starts and ends with me and the team.”
The Hawks showed their dominance and versatility by putting Gunston ahead by five goals in the final term.
This allowed Blake Hardwick to push forward and score four goals in the final quarter; It was his second four-goal haul in two weeks.
Hawthorn were also buoyed by the long-awaited return of midfielder Will Day.
“I think he played 30 seconds more than he should have, so we had a little chat about it after the game,” Mitchell said.
“We were pretty diligent to make sure he didn’t play too much football and we were pleased he came through unscathed and did some good things.”
It was also an impressive night for the Hawthorn defence. Led by James Sicily (a match-high 33 disposals and 13 tackles), Jarman Impey and Karl Amon, they held St Kilda to under 10 goals in the match.
