Hawthorn Hawks star Nick ‘The Wizard’ Watson talked the talk, but it was Marcus Bontempelli and the Western Bulldogs who walked the walk
In the end, Hawthorn’s igniter Nick Watson ignited a fire that the Hawks could not control.
‘The Magician’ terrorized the Western Bulldogs in the first half of the clash at the MCG, tormenting opponent Michael Sellwood in the process.
In typically explosive fashion, Watson made the most of his midfield roles by scoring three inspired goals in the first two quarters to put Hawthorn 27 points ahead at the long break.
He ran the hapless Sellwood ragged and even looked the better of the Bulldog defender in a fiery quarter-time melee that crossed the boundary line and spilled into the fences.
It was the kind of all-in that would have AFL bean counters licking their lips as they tally penalties.
But then Watson said something about Sellwood, who walked off the pitch at half-time, that he might want to come back to in hindsight.
“He gives me some,” Watson told Kayo Sports at the time. “I don’t care if he talks or not as long as he walks, so I’d love to see that in the second half.”
What he saw in the second half was a Hawthorn horror show. Luke Beveridge kept his faith in Sellwood and took the lead in the final two quarters, fighting to hold Watson to just two possessions.
After the game, Sellwood told Kayo Sports that he was one of 10 kids growing up, so scrapping was in his nature.
“I just love that aspect of the job,” he admitted.
“I was one of 10 people with my four older brothers, so we were wrestling all the time and I guess I was just trying to pick up the crumbs.
“I always had a hybrid who stood up well. Opposition supporters won’t like it, but it is what it is.”
After Watson came off the game and failed to score another goal, the determined Bulldogs lifted themselves off the canvas to steal the game.
At the end of the first half, the Hawks scored 8.2 points to 1.11 and won by six points, 12.5 (77) to 9.17 (71).
Every minute counted as the match turned into arm wrestling until the end.
Nothing, other than defender Nick Coffield storming into the goal square with three minutes left on the clock, flicking the ball straight into the hands of Hawthorn forward Mitch Lewis and appearing to demand a sign.
The referee must have been a millisecond away from blowing his whistle. It was this close. If the mark had been paid, this would have been a clear target.
It was so close that Sam Mitchell, who says refereeing is a tough job, was unsure whether it should be a note.
But Coffield’s last-gasp desperation reflected his side’s approach. He said after the game that the Bulldogs wanted to hold out.
He said they were tired of Hawthorn being “run over”, including a 40-point drubbing during the Gather Round.
“They humiliated us several times,” Coffield said Age.
“So Bevo made a bit of a splash to take the fight to them a little bit more and I don’t think we did that in the first half, but I think we responded well after half-time.”
With Watson subdued after the long break, defensive forward Will Lewis began a feud with Hawthorn captain James Sicily.
They wrestled down the center flank, pushed and shoved the Bulldogs’ forward 50 and exchanged heated words in the goal square.
“Obviously that created some tension in the game but we thought Will really did his job and played his part on the night,” Beveridge said after the game.
“I’m sure the numbers and statistics will say Hawthorn probably should have won the game.
“But I thought our backline was so outstanding and outstanding. They weathered quite a storm all night and judging by the scoreline in the second half it was really important to keep them on that total.”
Beveridge said the Bulldogs arrived at the MCG knowing Hawthorn had taken precautions recently.
“If you give them space, they are a team whose pressing is quite phenomenal,” he said.
“So it is very important for us to get through this, weather that storm and come out on the other side with a victory.
“I definitely think the players came with the right mentality. [and] “I definitely decided to take a stand.”
Not only was Mitchell upset with the Hawks’ efforts, but he was certainly demoralized by their miscue.
“I wouldn’t say we’re not ready for the fight,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think anyone watched the Hawthorn side tonight and said, ‘Wow, they were off tonight’.
“We couldn’t score our goals, we couldn’t take advantage of our chances, but this wasn’t due to lack of effort.”
Playing without Jack Gunston’s injury, Hawthorn made a further 77 disposals and the forward entered his 50 a further 17 times. They couldn’t buy the goal; Even Mabior Chol’s last shot hit his boot and went just wide.
The Bulldogs won the match via forward-50 stoppage. Interestingly, they achieved 5.1 (31) points in this area compared to Hawthorn’s 1.4 (10).
“Some of our best football of the year and some of our worst football was played tonight, so they really took their chances and we didn’t take ours,” Mitchell said.
“Execution is important and I get more emails about goal kick than anything else, but we probably work on goal kick more than anything else, so [we’re] “I’m still looking for answers.”
Mitchell wasn’t surprised the Bulldogs tried to take the Sicilian out of the game by calling Lewis “the enemy.”
“James played some great football. I suspect he’ll be in most of the All-Australian teams for half the season, so we suspected he’d probably attract a lot of Australian interest.” [Will] “Lewis,” he said.
“But I thought James played really well with some caution.”
The Bulldogs lost Lachlan McNeil to concussion early in the game, forcing Beveridge to shuffle the decks and throw forward Rory Lobb; Hawthorn big man Mitch Lewis appeared to have a serious ankle injury but managed to play the game.
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