Adam Saad getting roasted at the other<\/a> for a horror effort that led directly to a Hawks goal.<\/p>\nSaad was accused of \u201cjogging\u201d after opponent Nick Watson, who burned him on the outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdam Saad just did not want the football \u2013 wasn\u2019t going at anywhere close to 100% to get that ball,\u201d Jack Riewoldt said on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
Despite the result, it was Carlton who won the second half – but it came too little, too late off the back of that woeful opening term.\ufeff<\/p>\n
THE 3-2-1…<\/p>\n
3. \u2018FIT AND FIRING\u2019 HAWKS OMINOUS <\/p>\n
David King always says health is your best player.<\/p>\n
And Hawthorn is virtually at full strength again to pose a scary challenge for the other contenders. <\/p>\n
With Will Day injected back in the midfield, Mitch Lewis and Calsher Dear spearheading the forward line again and James Sicily commanding the back six, the Hawks produced some of their best form for the season in the first half of Thursday night\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n
And this powered up version of Sam Mitchell\u2019s side, which is now effectively only missing Josh Weddle from its best 23, improved to 13-6 to continue its top four push. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou get what you pay for with your strength and conditioning department. They have bought all these Hawthorn players back fit and firing and ready to go,\u201d Kangaroos legend King said on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen Lewis, Dear and Day back and Sicily back from a short break. They all look ready to explode.\u201d <\/p>\n
This might be the most complete and dangerous version of these Hawks.<\/p>\n
Lewis kicked his first goal since returning from an ACL injury \u2014 one of two goals on the night \u2014 in a heartwarming moment as every one of his teammates got around him afterwards. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile Dear provided some epic highlights \u2013 including a massive hanger over Sam Docherty in the first quarter and a one-handed mark in the second term. <\/p>\n
Legend’s advice for Curnow amid rumours | 01:14<\/p>\n
Lewis and Dear finished with two goals apiece and functioned well together, with Lewis providing a valuable brute target ahead of the ball. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile Jack Gunston continued his brilliant season with a game-high three majors as we saw exciting flashes of Hawthorn\u2019s forward line at its best. <\/p>\n
For several weeks now the Hawks have been faced with a selection headache of trying to fit four key forwards \u2013 Lewis, Dear, Gunston and Mabior Chol \u2013 into three spots. <\/p>\n
Chol might suddenly be the odd man out, getting managed last week before missing Thursday night\u2019s game with a groin issue as Sam Mitchell and the Hawks selection committee face a crunch call on what their optimal forward mix looks like.<\/p>\n
King said Hawthorn\u2019s forward line was \u201cdynamic\u201d and the \u201cbest its looked for a while,\u201d labelling Dear the club\u2019s \u201cwildcard\u201d who looks capable of having a monster game on the run home of the home and away season. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the one. I just think he has a big game in him, whether it\u2019s tonight or the next couple of weeks,\u201d the dual premiership Kangaroo said of Dear early in Thursday night\u2019s game. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe is looming large as the man in that forward line in the back-half of the year, to just rip the game to shreds.\u201d <\/p>\n
2. DOC\u2019S EPIC MOMENT IN LAST MATCH <\/p>\n
Take a bow, Doc. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t Sam Docherty\u2019s night, but at least he got his moment in his final match. <\/p>\n
Docherty late in the third quarter capitalised on a deep inside 50, receiving a handball from Corey Durdin and kicking a goal as the MCG erupted for the largest pop of the night. <\/p>\n
\u201cThanks for the memories, you mighty Blue!,\u201d Fox Footy caller Matt Hill exclaimed. <\/p>\n
The retiring Blue bowed to the crowd afterwards as he was mobbed by teammates far and wide and drew a round of applause from Carlton and Hawthorn fans alike. <\/p>\n
\u201cGet to him, boys! They\u2019re all coming, even Jacob Weitering from deep fullback,\u201d Kangaroos legend Davis King said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a moment, a mark of respect. They go up the Carlton fans. Awesome, brings a tear to the eye,\u201d <\/p>\n
Docherty called time on his career this week after 184 games, with the inspirational and beloved Blue overcoming three ACL injuries and two bouts of cancer. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf any man deserves to bow in the last game of their career, for everything Sam Docherty has been through, it is him,\u201d Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt added. <\/p>\n
Docherty\u2019s goal got the Blues back within 31 points, while he had a chance to get Carlton closer with a set shot moments later after drawing free kick. <\/p>\n
But his kick missed to deny the Blues the most emotional of emotional lifts, a key chance to get back in the game, and thus, a fairytale ending Docherty deserved. <\/p>\n
Dunstall: Double standard in May verdict | 03:40<\/p>\n
1. BUT WHERE WAS SECOND HALF ENERGY EARLIER? <\/p>\n
If there was ever a night for the Blues to find something extra, you would\u2019ve thought they would for retiring club champion Sam Docherty. <\/p>\n
Throw in the fact it was Jacob Weitering\u2019s 200th match and Harry McKay being back in the side and there was plenty of reason for optimism Carlton could at least pose a challenge of sorts.<\/p>\n
But it took until the second half for the Blues to play with an added level of energy \u2014 a half the Blues won.<\/p>\n
But Michael Voss\u2019 troops ultimately left their run until too late as the 30-point half-time buffer proved too much to overcome. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would be frustrating Carlton fans at home is we have seen this week after week after week with the same players,\u201c Saints legend Leigh Montagna bemoaned at half-time. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why they are where they are on the ladder this year. That\u2019s the frustrating part.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall was also critical of the Blues\u2019 lacklustre first-half efforts. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re ever going to have urgency, the build up to this game, with Docherty, Weiteirng\u2019s 200th, getting McKay back into the team,\u201c Dunstall said at the main break. <\/p>\n
\u201cI get it, the season is over and you\u2019re not going to be playing finals. But there\u2019s a carrot dangling here and a special memory for a player who has been one hell of a servant to this footy club. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s the effort? That\u2019s like clocking on, clocking off for work and going through the motions. No desperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Follow our coverage of Hawthorn vs. Carlton in our live blog below! Can\u2019t see the blog? Click here<\/a><\/p>\nThe Blues (7-11, 94.6%) got back to winning ways against Melbourne last Saturday night and will look to make it back-to-back wins to farewell Docherty in his 184th and last AFL game. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Hawks (12-6, 119 per cent) aim to make it five wins in their past six games to keep their top-four hopes alive, and they\u2019ll regain star midfielder Will Day for the prime-time bout. <\/p>\n
Day hasn\u2019t played since Round 3, with a foot stress fracture limiting him to four senior appearances this season. <\/p>\n
For the Blues, Harry McKay returns from his knee injury alongside out-of-form wingman Blake Acres, with the injured Francis Evans and Flynn Young going out of the side. <\/p>\n
Hawthorn has lost three of its past five games against Carlton but has importantly won the past two. Somewhat surprisingly, given their poor form this year, the Blues have won four of their past six matches at the MCG. <\/p>\n
The first bounce will hit the MCG turf at 7:30pm local time in Melbourne, with the substitutes and final teams for each side to be confirmed an hour beforehand.<\/p>\n
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), and streaming on Kayo, from 6:30pm AEST. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hawthorn\u2019s finals hopes received a boost off the back of their 24-point win in Blues veteran Sam Docherty\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,20211,684,3239,9203,7802,20213,9125,2105,1139,7492,3512,647,677,20212,14272,17975,20210,85,20209,660],"class_list":["post-19232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-back-to-back-wins","tag-ben-cotton","tag-carlton-blues","tag-catherine-healey","tag-final-teams","tag-foot-stress-fracture","tag-francis-evans","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-greater-western-sydney-giants","tag-hawthorn-hawks","tag-knee-injury","tag-melbourne","tag-oceania","tag-out-of-form-wingman","tag-sam-docherty","tag-sam-doherty","tag-senior-appearances","tag-sports","tag-stars-return","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}