HAWTHORN has locked in a top spot for the 2024 AFLW season after defeating Naarm up in Cairns last night, while also sniffing out Narrm’s last hope of making it into finals.

Speaking post match, Hawks coach Daniel Webster noted that he was pleased with how his side was able to grind out a win.

“It was obviously tough, and the longer it went on, the more sweaty and slippery it got and made it very hard when so many players are getting fatigued I thought,” Webster said.

“But to grind out a win against high quality opposition for us was massive, a really strong performance, really gritty performance I thought.”

The win does guarantee the Hawks a top four finish and a double chance come finals, and Webster agreed that it was a “massive” achievement for his side.

“I mean, it’s where you want to be in those conversations and give yourself those opportunities,” Webster said.

“It’s where we want to be. We are grateful for that but on the same token, we’ve worked very hard to get to that point and like I said, that was a really hard game. So that’s just good to be there and now we’re 10 day break to refresh and get ready for another big game.”

It was not the easiest conditions to play in, with the temperature in the mid 20s even after the sun went down.

“As it wore on, it just got more and more slippery,” Webster noted.

“But I thought early in the game, the conditions were fantastic. The deck’s amazing, it’s great to play on. It just would have got slippery, especially with the smaller balls as well, I reckon it just makes it harder. So it was tricky, but both teams had to play the same and grind it out, and it just made it for a bit of a slog in the end.”

Despite the tricky conditions, Webster was really happy with the effort his side showed.

“I think from an effort standpoint, I thought we really got on top, especially the 2nd and 3rd quarter,” Webster said.

“Our execution decision making at times probably let us down and then we couldn’t get impact on the scoreboard and we left them in with a chance and they got that goal in the third out the back and it made it really hard.

“But to fight it out the way we did was really good because I think both teams in the last quarter were off their legs and it was just a big scrap in the end.”