Hawthorn end Collingwood finals dream

Marley Williams

COLLINGWOOD: 2.3, 4.6, 5.8, 8.8 (56)
HAWTHORN: 1.4, 8.8, 12.9, 18.13 (121)

GOALS
Collingwood: Gault 2, White 2, Fasolo, Sidebottom, Broomhead, Blair
Hawthorn: Gunston 5, Roughead 4, Puopolo, Hale, Hartung, Lewis, Breust, Simpkin, Ceglar, Hale

BEST
Collingwood: Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Ball, White, Langdon
Hawthorn: Lewis, Gunston, Roughead, Gibson, Simpkin, Mitchell, Smith

INJURIES
Collingwood: Dwyer (ankle/knee)
Hawthorn: Lake (cork)

What Happened
Hawthorn turned on the class when it counted to shrug off an early challenge from the Magpies, but coach Alastair Clarkson won’t be completely happy with a series of often lacklustre efforts on the eve of another finals campaign.

The Hawks banner before the game pretty much summed up what happened in the end, even though the first quarter didn’t go quite as planned.

Collingwood applied the heat early against a Hawthorn side that appeared intent to play bruise free footy and the Magpies faithful even dared to dream as they booted the night’s first two goals through Corey Gault and Alex Fasolo.

The Pies maintained the rage until near quarter-time but failed to score a goal from nine consecutive inside-50s before a fortunate free kick allowed Hawthorn to take the ball up the other end for Jack Gunston to nab their only goal of the term.

Given a spray at quarter time, the Hawks clearly lifted in the second term, but the match was still in the balance midway through the term with Clarkson’s side leading by two points.

But with Collingwood fielding one of their youngest sides in years, the team simply couln’t apply the heat for an entire quarter and as the pressure dropped away just before half-time, the Hawks pounced firing off four consecutive goals in an eight-minute burst that pretty much ended the contest by half-time.

The second half proved a pretty run-of-the-mill affair as Hawthorn simply used their class to toy with the Magpies, kicking four goals to one for the third term before finishing with a six-goal burst in the last.

There were still some bright moments for the Pies, though, as Jarryd Blair’s late goal was an absolute cracker while the retiring Luke Ball one his side’s final clearance from the centre in the shadows of full time.

Fallout
It will be interesting to see the fallout from Collingwood missing the finals for the first time since 2005. Last year when the Pies lost the Elimination Final to Port Adelaide, the Magpies responded with anger. Coach Nathan Buckley called for a culture change at the club and several big names were dumped from the side. 

Hope he's in my fantasy team
Jordan Lewis produced another massive night at the coalface. Leading the side in Luke Hodge’s absence, Lewis posted 33 possessions and had 11 marks. Although he’ll have some competition from Scott Pendlebury (36 possessions), another three votes could have a big impact on the Brownlow medal for Lewis.

What's next
For Collingwood, it’s now time for one seriously nasty review of a disastrous second half to the season, while the Hawks look likely to play old rival Geelong in a Friday night qualifying final blockbuster next Friday night.

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