HAWTHORN continued its undefeated 2024 campaign in style, defeating Collingwood by 47 points at Victoria Park on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking post-match, Hawthorn coach Daniel Webster shared his insights and the positives from the match.
“It was a really good performance by us,” Webster said. “Collingwood are very good, especially in the contest, especially with ‘Sabs’ (Sabrina Frederick), (Bri) Davey, Britt Bonnici. Bonnici was causing headaches, especially in that first half.
“It felt like every time we got the ball out, we could run and look dangerous. It was an interesting game in that sense of who could control the inside and control the outside. Overall for us, I was really happy with the performance.”
Despite the positives, Webster also noted the frustrations about his’s side game.
“Sometimes those skill errors or sometimes where we don’t quite play the system as well as what we could. It’s still a learning curve for us, to be really consistent throughout. I want to hold the team for high standards and they’re capable of more.”
Webster raised a few key areas that really helped his side in the third term.
“I think it was more our work in the contest, which allowed the outside game to shine,” Webster said. “Collingwood are really strong in there. For us it was more matching them as oppose to really getting on top in there. If we can do that and get to our runners we hopefully in a good space. That’s the way in panned in the third.”
Webster spoke about the balance within the team without Emily Bates, who missed yesterday’s win through injury.
“We put Gilly (Aileen Gilroy) in there for a little bit,” Webster said. “I thought Jas Fleming really stepped up, her pace around the footy was really important. Casey Sherriff did a really good job especially in the third, we put her in Bonnici for a little bit, tried to crawl that.
“I thought ‘Westy’ (Eliza West) was fantastic inside the contest. The ruck battle was really good to watch, I thought both had good moments. I thought It was a really good team performance by our midfield crew.”
Facing the Adelaide Crows in Round 3, Webster looked ahead to next weekend and how his side would approach the game.
“They are a team I highly respect and they’ve got weapons everywhere and it’ll be a big test for us,” Webster said. “We’ll prepare as normal and give ourselves a chance to put a good performance.”