Hawks’ final quarter woes in spotlight

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says his side is working on protecting its leads after paying a heavy price for going goalless in consecutive final quarters.

An impotent St Kilda forward line allowed the Hawks to escape with a five-point victory despite only managing 0.4 in the final term of their round 9 clash in Launceston.

But leaving the door open for Port Adelaide to snatch an equal club record comeback win after trailing by 41 points during the third term prompted a wave of criticism at Mitchell and Hawthorn for playing too defensively when in control of the game.

“We certainly looked at it pretty closely. I think how we handle those situations … even the week before (against St Kilda), we went goalless in the last quarter after having the lead in that game as well,” Mitchell said.

“We got away with that one, and we didn’t on the weekend. We need to continue to learn how to handle close-game scenarios … and make sure we’re better prepared for the next time we’re in that position.”

Mitchell hoped first-year small forward Nick Watson would only miss Sunday’s Marvel Stadium clash against Brisbane with hamstring tightness after the Hawks were unable to sub him out against the Power.

With Changkuoth Jiath already out of the game when Watson’s issue developed, the No. 5 pick was pushed into a deeper role but was forced to run at full pelt after a kick 40m over his head in Hawthorn’s only genuine scoring opportunity during the final term.

“Nick’s had a good year so far, obviously a bit interrupted with the ankle (injury against Melbourne). We’d already made the sub and his hamstring was getting tighter. We tried to put him deeper, he ended up sprinting more in that situation,” Mitchell said.

“Fortunately no damage on the scan, but he was overloaded quite heavily and still hasn’t recovered.

“With a player of his youth and future that we’re excited about, not worth taking the risk with him this week.”

Mitchell said he had planned to play Jiath for longer in his first game back from a series of soft tissue injuries, but the attacking halfback had already blown-out his GPS numbers after club medical staff had put a cap on his running loads.

“Ideally we would’ve liked to play him the whole game last week, but he couldn’t control his running,” the coach said with a grin.

“We needed to just keep him safe. The risk of injury with everyone is obviously there, but with him it’s increased the more fatigued he gets.

“Fortunately, we know that he’s available this week, and he’ll play again in a similar role.”

Mitchell said he would persist with father-son key forward Calsher Dear against the Lions after a frustrating performance against Port Adelaide, but could not guarantee Ethan Phillips a spot despite his assured debut at fullback.

He said veteran forward Luke Breust could again be used as the sub as he worked towards full fitness.

“He’s still managing his body – his groins are not 100 per cent still. We know that he’s an important player, really important leadership for us,” Mitchell said.

“He’s one of those great teammates that is willing to do whatever role helps the team, and if that’s the sub then he’s more than willing to do that and have that influence from the bench, which he does a really good job of.”