Hawthorn has survived a thriller against Port Adelaide after a Mitch Georgiades missed set shot denied the Power a late comeback.
A game of big swings in momentum at Marvel Stadium went down to the wire in the fourth quarter.
Goals to first-game Hawk Will McCabe and Mitch Lewis gave Hawthorn the lead back, before Lachie Jones kept Port Adelaide alive with his own brilliant finish in the dying minutes.
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The Power then had another chance to run over the top, but Georgiades couldn’t nail a relatively tough set shot inside the last minute as Hawthorn hung on to win by three points, 13.11 (89) to 13.8 (86).
The win saw Hawthorn improve to 5-1 — its best start to a season since 2014 — and climb into second place on the ladder.
Port, meanwhile, fell to 2-4 overall.
3. ‘GETTING BELTED’: POWER RUE EARLY WIZ CALL IN HAWKS ‘RELIEF’
In the absence of Jack Gunston and Mabior Chol, the electric Nick Watson stepped up to boot a career-best five goals in a scintillating display.
Watson was prolific in the first and third quarters in particular, also finishing with 13 disposals and three clearances.
“Bit of relief that one’s over,” Watson told Fox Footy post-game.
“We have such depth in our forward line. Obviously, ‘Gunners’ and ‘Mabs’ are big exclusions, but we have such depth, and it was good to see Will McCabe get a gig … and ‘Calsh’ (Calsher Dear) back as well.”
Reflecting on the nailbiting win, milestone man Karl Amon called Watson a “genuine superstar”.
“The good thing about Nick is all his offensive stuff comes off his defensive acts — the chasedown tackles, the blocks for teammates,” he said.
“It’s a credit to him. He probably took a while to get going, but now he’s absolutely flying, and it’s a pleasure to play with him.”
Hawthorn kicked seven first-quarter goals, with three coming from Watson alone in an ominous early display at Docklands.
It forced a change of matchup, with Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr choosing to deploy four-gamer Josh Lai on Watson.
“How much can you learn by getting belted? …Even a quarter and three goals kicked on you might be great experience,” Hall of Fame Legend Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy in the first quarter.
“You might fight back in the second term, and that’s the bit where you don’t want to give up on (it).
“It’s interesting. I mean, if he finds a way to fight back and do a really good job on Watson for the rest of the game, it’ll be the best day he’s ever had.
“But if he ends up having six or seven kicked on him, he’s had three already, you’re thinking (as the coach) ‘have I done more damage than good?’.”
Carr switched Lachie Jones onto Watson at the start of the second term.
“(Watson) lit up the first quarter; he’s such a tough player to match up on … Lai given the job, it’s been a great opportunity for him to learn about what’s going on,” Dunstall said.
“Jones is going to get the job now. He said ‘you’ve learnt, good effort, we might need you in a different role or you might get another crack at it later, who knows?’”
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 18: Nick Watson of the Hawks celebrates in front of Lachie Jones of the Power during the 2026 AFL Round 06 match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Port Adelaide Power at Marvel Stadium on April 18, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson said: “The way you deliver that message is always with a bit of positivity.”
Watson was kept scoreless with just two disposals in the second quarter, but he was raring again in the third quarter as the Hawks got back rolling.
He was the beneficiary of a fortunate free kick against Jones inside 50, before magnificently roving a marking contest to snap his second of the third term.
On Saturday, the Hawks looked to go quick at almost every opportunity after marking around the ground, and they booted four unanswered goals before the Power finally got going.
But after having all the ascendancy early, it was all Port Adelaide in the second term, causing Sam Mitchell some serious headaches.
“He’s had enough. He’ll have some strategy around what needs to be done (after half-time),” Adam Simpson said.
Dunstall added: “He’d be concerned with what’s happening when it’s going inside 50 as well, because it’s coming out very quickly.”
Boundary-side, Lauren Wood said: “The energy has well and truly shifted, Sam Mitchell now coaching from the bench, and I’ll tell you what, he is absolutely patrolling — he’s punching his hand, he’s pointing at his players, and he is making these messages be heard loud and clear. It’s on.”
Hawthorn kicked four goals to two in the third term and then went two apiece with the Power in the last to hold on for the four points.
To the 25-minute mark of the final term, the Hawks had forged eight front-half turnovers in the quarter to put themselves in a winning position.
2. ‘WENT IN WITH A PLAN’: GUTSY POWER OVERCOME ‘ALARM BELLS’ TO SCARE HAWKS
Port Adelaide supporters would have been fearing a blowout when Hawthorn booted the game’s first four goals at Docklands.
Josh Carr’s side was -19 for points from clearances in the first quarter, with the Hawks winning five more clearances than the visitors.
“There’d be alarm bells everywhere in the box,” Adam Simpson said of Port’s early setback.
“There’s a screen with all the major stats, and they’d all be flashing red at the moment. You just take a deep breath and hopefully the players can work through it.”
But Port, which excelled in an uncontested style of game to slow the fast Hawks down, booted six unanswered goals in the second quarter to take an 11-point lead.
“This is unbelievable,” Dunstall said.
“Sam Mitchell would love it to be half-time right now, but unfortunately, you’re relying on leaders on-field to make decisions, and they’re just not getting it right at the moment.”
Carr told Fox Footy at half-time: “To give them that start in the first quarter, especially around the contest, three centre-bounce goals in the first quarter, and the marks as well, we took that away from them, so it was a great response.”
In the second term, Port Adelaide had looked to control play with uncontested marks, finishing the first half +25 in the metric.
“I think they went in with a plan at the start of the game to execute this,” Simpson said.
“There were too many things going wrong in the first quarter to get this going. Second quarter they tidied up centre bounces, made a few changes with the disciplines, then they started to bring this (shorter inside-50 entries) into the game, which is taking away the Barrass types with the deep entries versus these leading lanes.”
Dunstall added: “It’s been impressive. They’ve gone to school on not giving Hawthorn what they want from a defensive setup, and they’ve been able to isolate contests that have suited them inside 50. It’s been impressive coaching from Josh Carr.”
The Hawks were always going to come again, and the hosts kicked four goals to two in the third term.
But in a tight and tense final quarter, Mitch Georgiades had a chance to kick the Power ahead at the 32-minute mark but missed across the face.
Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis led from the front with 35 and 28 disposals respectively, with Horne-Francis going close to best-on-ground honours.
1. ‘THEY KNOW THE RULES’: HAWKS DUO IN HOT MRO WATER FOR ‘PETULANT’ ACTS
Hawthorn will sweat on Match Review findings for two stars following contentious gut-punch acts on Saturday.
The AFL has made no secret of its harder stance against gut punches this year, with such acts now graded as medium impact rather than low in the MRO matrix, resulting in one-match bans on the majority of occasions.
And at Docklands, co-captain James Sicily and Dylan Moore committed off-the-ball acts that are set to be scrutinised by Michael Christian.
First, Moore whacked Port’s Logan Evans in the third quarter. The hit looked to come more to Evans’ side than his stomach, but it was still a closed-fist action off the ball. Thus, he looks destined to serve a one-week sentence.
“Moore with a gut punch — we heard Greg Swann earlier in the year … he was incredibly simple about it; he wants to see these out of the game,” Lauren Wood reported from the boundary on Fox Footy at three-quarter-time.
Evans was again the victim of an off-the-ball hit late in the third quarter, and this time it was skipper Sicily who disappointingly committed the transgression.
Wood said: “You can see him explaining to the umpire, appearing to say it was his elbow (that made contact), but as we know, cameras are everywhere.”
Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall was none too pleased with either act.
“I find it incredibly frustrating when I watch acts of ill-discipline or petulance like that,” Dunstall said.
“You’ve got to be able to cope with that (opposition irritants), and the fact is, those players may find themselves out for a week for something that minor, and don’t begrudge if they get rubbed out for a week — they know what the rules are.”
Former West Coast coach Simpson added: “When it’s your captain, as well … when the focus in the offseason has been on that, that’s what you need to avoid when you retaliate.”
The Hawks host Gold Coast in Tasmania next week in a crucially important match.
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