‘Banged up’ Hawks skipper admits mistake
Hawthorn captain James Sicily is “optimistic” he can face St Kilda in Launceston this weekend despite dislocating his shoulder in the first quarter of the Hawks’ upset win on Sunday.
Sicily’s day looked done when he left the field in the hands of trainers, but he returned to have a major impact and kicked the goal that buried the Western Bulldogs during time-on in the final term.
He said he was proud of Hawthorn’s improved defensive performance following a heavy loss to Sydney in round 7, as he also apologised to first-year Hawk Nick Watson for his on-field “tantrum” after the No.5 pick missed a straightforward shot at goal in the dying moments.
Sicily said he was hopeful of no significant structural damage to his shoulder despite the dislocation and told RSN he was “optimistic” he would be fit to face the Saints in an intriguing Saturday afternoon clash.
“(I’m) pretty banged up this morning but all worth it really, waking up on a Monday after a really good win … it was good to get some reward for effort,” he said.
“You go into a little bit of shock really. I felt like, … ‘I’m probably done for a fair stint here’. “It was a really uncomfortable feeling, but the docs got it in pretty seamlessly, and then I still had all my strength and not much pain … it was bizarre, would’ve rather not done my shoulder but it’s pulled up OK, a little bit stiff this morning, but we’ll see what happens.”
The captain said he was embarrassed to watch the replay of his blow-up at Watson following his miss in the final moments as he praised the small forward for his brilliant response in winning a crucial one-against-two contest to keep the ball in Hawthorn’s hands with a minute to play.
“I had a tantrum … I didn’t realise it looked that childish until I watched it on TV,” Sicily said.
“(Watson) had some unbelievable efforts after that defensively … he’s going to kick a lot of goals for us, Wiz, he’s had a lot of shots on goal.
“He said he was a bit rattled after I yelled at him. It’s more the follow-up (after the game) because in the heat of the moment you’ve still got a job to do – it’s hard to tend to people’s feelings.”
Watson celebrated his first win for the Hawks along with father-son debutant Calsher Dear, who Sicily was thrilled to see stand up with his second goal midway through the final term.
“It was awesome that we got to see why we picked (Dear) in the team this week,” Sicily said.
“He was a bloody raw kid when we got him – Gunners (Jack Gunston) has done a lot of work with him.
“Debutants in the week and the build-up is always refreshing as a teammate and exciting. It’s stuff that is really wholesome.”
