Hawthorn's master coach Sam Mitchell has been credited with another genius move that ultimately proved the difference in his team's thrilling victory over Adelaide in Tasmania.
Mitchell moved regular defender Blake 'Dimma' Hardwick to the forward line, in a surprising call that paid off in spades. In the absence of veteran forward Jack Gunston, Hardwick stepped up to the plate, booting four goals and taking six marks while playing as a deep forward.
Spur-of-the-Moment Decision
After the game, it was revealed that the decision happened on a whim — 'out of nowhere' — inside Mitchell's brain. Asked about their 'new forward', co-captain James Sicily said 'only for a week, hopefully.' But he admitted that Hardwick 'was probably the difference' in a match decided by just nine points.
'Hopefully Gunners (Gunston) comes back and we get our mate (Hardwick) back in the backline,' Sicily told Channel 7. 'But obviously a great lever to pull if we can't kick a goal, just chuck him down there. But yeah, a bit of a grind tonight, but good to get back on the winner's list.'
Epiphany at Captains Run
Sicily was quizzed about when the team found out about the surprise move. 'To be honest, I think he just had a bit of an epiphany in the captains run,' Sicily said. 'He's like, 'I reckon Dimma forward this week out of nowhere. What do you reckon?' And I'm like, 'yeah, sounds good.' What did he have? Six shots a goal, seven shots a goal. So, yeah.'
Fiery Spray Sparks Turnaround
It wasn't the only interesting card Mitchell played. He also gave the team a fiery spray after a sluggish start saw the Crows extend their lead early in the second term. Luke Hodge, Mitchell's former teammate, said in commentary: 'I've played a lot of footy with this man, I've never seen him that angry in the coaches' box. He's fuming with how they've started this second quarter.'
The spray did the trick, with Hawthorn composing themselves to take a 13-point lead by halftime. Asked what Mitchell was 'going nuts' about, Sicily said he was unsure but assumed it was due to a lack of pressure. 'There was hardly any tackles in the game. There was hardly any pressure in the game, so we want pressure in the game. We feel like we play our best footy when it's pretty contested. So we set the game up a bit differently, played a different method, and we were able to get some pressure on the game.'
Mitchell Responds to Hodge's Observation
Mitchell later addressed Hodge's 'angry' observation with amusement. 'I feel like I need to respond to Hodgey and not to the press conference, but to the press conference, no, that's just how we (roll), we needed to perform at a high level, and the standards that we know are required to win games like that. And we weren't living up to, and then after that, we did well.'
'To Hodgey himself, I think he knows he's seen me pretty angry a few times, probably just at him some of those times, but he's been just as angry at me ... (but) it was good to see him pregame.'
