HAWTHORN got off the mark in the AFLW season with a win over the Bulldogs on the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a nail biting, seesawing clash it was the Hawks who ultimately prevailed, and Hawthorn coach Bec Goddard<\/em><\/strong> said that her message to her troops at three quarter time was all about the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe had a bit of a chat around contest and we felt like our third quarter we just dropped off at the contest,\u201d Goddard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBulldogs brought an enormous amount of pressure and we didn\u2019t withstand it as well as we would have liked to so if we got the contest done in the fourth we felt confident we were going to come through with the win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goddard also praised her leaders, including the likes of Tilly Lucas-Rodd<\/a> and Emily Bates<\/a> who helped keep the team on track as the game got tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it was about our mature players stepping up and running the game from that perspective,” she said. “Batesy did some really important things in the death of the game, same with TLR, just soaking up seconds on the clock and being able to show the young players on our team the way that we need to play when those games are tight at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the end that\u2019s how we got over the line at the very end, a bit of maturity, a bit of calmness and finding a way to grind it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team\u2019s three inclusions this week Emily Everist<\/a>, Laura Elliott<\/a> and Lucy Wales<\/a> also saw praise from the coach in regards to their contributions to the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLaura Elliot I thought was phenomenal in the back half,” she said. “Just came in like she\u2019d never been gone. Lucy Wales had her first game back today, they did some really important things for us and we looked different. I felt with a bit of extra run going wide on the ground, it was a good result.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n