No tears for Hawks as they focus on Cats

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson wasn’t in a crying mood despite watching his team slip from pole position in the race for a top-two AFL berth.

The Hawks slumped from first to third on the table after suffering a 19-point defeat to Fremantle in Sunday’s grand final re-match at Patersons Stadium.

Hawthorn could slip to as low as fourth if they lose to bogey team Geelong in Saturday’s blockbuster at the MCG, but Clarkson said his team’s 17.8 (110) to 13.13 (91) loss to Fremantle wasn’t cause for concern.

“We’re not going to cry too much about this loss,” Clarkson said.

“We didn’t play anywhere near our best and we lost by three goals.

“We move on.

“We’ve had a strong program and we’ve played some pretty good footy over the course of the year, so we just have to lick our wounds a little bit and get ourselves ready for the Cats.”

Hawthorn’s midfield struggled to deal with Fremantle’s frenetic pressure for most of the match, with the Hawks restricted to just 38 inside 50s.

Clarkson conceded his midfield received a touch up by Fremantle’s bigger-bodied on-ballers.

But he’s confident the impending return of star forward Jarryd Roughead from suspension will give his team a more potent structure to play with.

“If you take one of your best players out of any side in the competition, it’s going to make a big difference,” Clarkson said.

“He’ll help us with that presence in our front half.

“We were pretty small at times (against the Dockers), and pretty inexperienced at other times.”

Fremantle’s waywardness in front of goal cost them dearly in last year’s grand final, but this time it was the Hawks who shot themselves in the foot.

Dockers skipper Matthew Pavlich made a welcome return to form with five goals, while midfielders David Mundy, Michael Barlow and Stephen Hill were also crucial in the win.

Fremantle suffered a late blow when goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne was ruled out with a hamstring injury, but the returning Michael Walters offset that loss with a series of goal assists.

Dockers midfielder Nat Fyfe gave away a series of costly free kicks in the opening quarter, and his off-the-ball hit on Jordan Lewis could land him in strife with the AFL’s match review panel

Fremantle had lost their past six encounters against Hawthorn, but Sunday’s win will give them renewed confidence of knocking over the defending premiers during the finals.

“You can’t go down to the shop and buy confidence can you,” Dockers coach Ross Lyon said.

“It’s got to be built from action.

“We would get some confidence if we deliver the type of action we did relentlessly for a long period of time.

“That’s really what it does for you. It firms up belief in what we’re asking each other to do and how we want to play.”

Hawthorn defender Matt Suckling is in doubt to face the Cats after being subbed out of Sunday’s game with an ankle injury.

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