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FIFA World Cup 2026 posterThursday Fallout: Near-perfect Hawks forced unwanted Saints stat
SEN • May 29th, 2026 9:16 am
Last Friday we wrote about Hawthorn needing a win to keep themselves entrenched in the top six.
They did it over the Crows in grinding fashion in Tassie.
This week they probably wanted a performance that would help re-establish their premiership credentials.
Against St Kilda - not necessarily a top six contender, but a side hanging around the 10 - the Hawks would have wanted to turn it on.
And that they did at Marvel Stadium in their commanding 52-point (119-67) victory. The Hawks were up by 50 points at half-time after holding the Saints goalless for two quarters.
Sam Mitchell didn’t think his Hawks were that dominant, admitting the Saints missed some chances.
He said: “The perfect game doesn’t exist.”
It was nearly perfect but there were a few things to tidy up.
Hawthorn’s scores per entry weren’t good enough, according to Mitch, but overall he was fairly pleased with how things panned out.
Pleased enough to bring Jack Gunston off despite having five goals to his name.
The game was in a situation where he was again able to throw Blake Hardwick forward and he agin delivered with four majors in the final term.
Nine goals from two full-forwards in one night, thanks very much.
Add 3.3 from Mitch Lewis and two each from Nick Watson (should have been three) and Mabior Chol and there are avenues to goal plenty.
Throw Will Day’s return in and the sublime form of co-captain James Sicily and the Hawks are positioned nicely ahead of next Friday night’s clash with the Western Bulldogs.
The Saints won the third quarter after entering the main break without a major. That would be seen as a win given how poor they were prior.
Ross Lyon said they lacked composure and balance with ball movement which hurt them.
There was bad and good for the Saints. The bad was that Sam Flanders copped a nasty achilles injury.
They also went goalless in an opening half for the first time since 1987. Their 0.5.(5) at the main break was their equal lowest HT tally since 1957.
The good was that Jack Silvagni went forward and was as competitive as it gets by kicking 3.3. They also won the third quarter and were only outscored by two points in the second half.
The negatives did outweigh the positives even if the second half was much better.
But as Ross said: “I don’t think we leave after feeling as bad as we did at half-time.”
It doesn’t get any easier though. The Swans in Sydney next Sunday as they strive to avoid dropping three in a row.
Andrew Slevison
