WHEN a game is on the line, fans want their leaders to stand up. Well that is exactly what Hawthorn skipper Tamara Luke did on the weekend to get her Hawks over the line against the Southern Saints.

Now heading into the last quarter, she had done quite a bit of the ruck work and kicked one goal, but the last quarter was when she really started to shine and make an impact on particularly the scoreboard.

The Saints kicked the first goal of the last quarter to bring the margin back to seven points, but then Luke really got to work.

She got her first goal in the final term after catching her defenders napping and getting a chip past from team mate Dom Carbone and then snapping around her body and converting.

This shows a great lot of footy smarts, because Carbone was on a tough angle, but did look like she was going to take the shot. By making the lead she did, not only did she make things easier for her team mate but she caught the defenders off guard, which is not always easy.

She kicked her second for the term from the goal square after doing the team thing and trying to get the ball out to the team mate in the best position. She took another strong mark and had a shot on goal but missed.

Luke’s two goals would ultimately be the only ones the Hawks got in the last quarter and they were the telling difference as the Hawks went on to win. Her work as a forward was not the only area she had an influence in in the match.

As previously mentioned, she also did a fair chunk of the ruck work too. It was all in the first three quarters, but she finished with 18 hitouts, which was the second most on the ground only behind team mate Tegan Cunningham, and was more than the Saints’ rucks got all day combined.

This was the perfect kind of game for Luke to truly show off her capabilities.

And with the AFLW expansion signing period and the draft just around the corner, it could not have come at a more perfect time for her to prove she is worthy of a spot back on an AFLW list.