Sam Mitchell of the Hawthorn Hawks speaks to their loss to the Melbourne Demons; North Melbourne captain Nick Larkey delivers a brutally hones critique of his side after Adelaide Crows dominate them
Updated ,first published
A stunned Sam Mitchell described Hawthorn’s 39-point score against Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday as “an outlier”.
The Hawthorn coach said his side were outplayed by the Demons and led 57 to 56 points in the inside 50, but were crushed in the center square after half-time when opposition ruckman Max Gawn took control.
“We pride ourselves on our work rate and we learned a lesson today,” Mitchell said.
“I think they won ground balls by 18 or 20 points and they looked a little hungrier than us today and you don’t win too many games at this level of football if you’re hunted by the opposition.
“It’s a challenge to put your finger on that. I would say this is an outstanding performance for this group.”
“It’s been a long time since we said we were truly behind in a game.”
Mitchell says the 6-3-1 Hawks will lick their wounds and regroup ahead of next Thursday night’s clash against a resurgent Adelaide in Launceston. He said the side needed to be able to adapt going forward without Jack Gunston, who is out with an ankle injury.
The Hawthorn forwards were outpaced by Demon defenders Daniel Turner, Jake Lever and Jake Bowey.
“We couldn’t find any points going forward,” Mitchell said.
“We found some great ways to avoid taking points away from good entries, and they were really effective going the other way.
“This has been a pattern for us; we haven’t been getting as high scores per entry as we would like over the last few weeks, but it was really strong before that.
“When Jack isn’t there, you know, the other players are playing their appropriate roles and we just didn’t execute them that well today.”
Melbourne were the surprise package of the season, going 7-3 at the MCG following big wins against top teams such as Hawthorn, Gold Coast and the two-time champions Brisbane Lions.
Demons coach Steven King said he believed the playing group could pull away from the group after a poor first half that saw them lead by just six points.
They made an early surprise by putting forward Harrison Petty and he scored the first two goals of the game and went on to score three goals in the long break.
“I think our stoppage game has improved a little bit. [after half-time]he said.
“It was an arm wrestle early on and if the way we got inside the 50 wasn’t at the level we wanted and planned, Hawthorn were punishing us the other way around and the turnover game was strong.
“They got good territory and gained meters from it. So yeah, we knew it was going to be an arm wrestle.”
But King said the Demons were able to regroup at halftime.
“We back ourselves in the game in terms of fitness, we know we can get our games done, we have a good profile and that’s one of the things you have to keep going.”
When the floodgates opened, Melbourne led Hawthorn by 12 goals to seven at half-time.
“We’re just Petz’s [Petty] He’s the type of player who can play both ways and we, yes, saw an opportunity there to do that; We asked a couple of our defensemen to play a little bit longer, which gave us that flexibility,” King said about moving Petty forward.
“Today I thought if we could get three goals in front of the ball for most of the game it could look positive for us.”
Obviously, it helped that Hawthorn defender Tom Barrass was not injured.
-Danny Russell
‘We pulled our pants down’: North captain’s brutal honesty
Steve Barrett
Adelaide: Shocked North Melbourne captain Nick Larkey admits the Kangaroos had their “trousers pulled down” by Adelaide and refuses to dismiss his team’s horror show on Saturday afternoon as a one-off aberration.
In the rearview mirror on Arden Street, Larkey thought, days like these would indeed happen. And for the most part, they seem to be that way.
But Saturday’s 68-point demolition of the Crows was a reminder of the darkest days of the North’s long rebuilding.
“It’s disappointing because we really felt like we were getting to the point where we were going to be in every game and not have big losses,” Larkey said.
“I’ve been in a lot of these games in recent years and I thought we would put those kinds of performances behind us. We all did.
“There are levels to this, and when you get a little far away you can pull your pants down.
“You can’t treat a game like this as abnormal; you can’t just write it off and forget about it.
“The mindset needs to be clear about exactly why and what went wrong.”
The Crows led from 10.4 to 0.2 in the second term amid a flurry of 13 unanswered goals either side at half-time.
Adelaide were superior in every aspect and it all started in the engine room, which had been strong throughout the season for the North before this weekend.
“We definitely got smacked in the competition,” Larkey said. “That’s what really stood out and it’s something we’re elite at.
“We put a price on it and we want to make it a core element of our game – and it has – but they taught us a lesson there.
“I thought we had reached a stage in the competition where effort was non-negotiable and thought was unnecessary, but frankly we still have work to do in this area.
“We were a little bit shocked when they scored all these goals in a row in the second quarter.”
The first-year captain didn’t hold back from the negativity, admitting his performance (eight touches, one point and one goal) was below average.
“That falls on me … it all falls on the leaders,” Larkey said.
“I would love to play a little more boldly for us,” he said.
“You place the narrative within four walls.
“We know what the formula is. The important thing is to apply it.”
Larkey is confident the Kangaroos can do just that against Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium next Saturday.
“Yes, 100 percent,” he replied.
“There have been matches in the past where we were weak and we recovered very well.
“This is about getting back to a brand of football that our study group has shown we can do. I’m confident we can do it. We have enough evidence to show we can be a good side.”
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