Hot Hawks can get even better
INVERLEIGH coach Mark McDowell insists his side’s best is yet to come after belting finals hopeful Geelong West.
With the Giants eyeing a spot in the top five, the Hawks flexed their muscles at West Oval to pump the home side by 74 points.
“We knew that they were hoping for a scalp, so that was good from our end, it really sharpened our focus,” McDowell said.
“We jumped out of the blocks and we applied pressure from the word go. We set up a lead in the first quarter and we just kept going on with it for the whole day.”
With a 22-point quartertime lead, Inverleigh held Geelong West to just one goal in the second and third terms while slamming on nine of their own. By the final change the margin was 63 points, with a five-goal final term putting the icing on the cake.
“We played four solid quarters of footy, particularly from a pressure point of view,” McDowell said.
“We applied really solid tackle pressure and we had good intensity for four quarters. We slipped up with efficiency and some of our skill work around the ground in patches throughout the day and that was the only disappointing thing for us.”
With its seventh win from eight outings, Inverleigh maintained its grip on top spot.
At Round 8 last season, the Hawks were second with an equally damaging 7-1 record, but McDowell believes his side is better placed to make amends for the 2017 grand final loss.
“I think we’re going a bit better,” McDowell said.
“We haven’t really put together four cracking quarters of football — that’s yet to come. Our side has been flipping around from week to week and we haven’t had the opportunity to get our best side on the park.
“So I’m looking for that … when we get them all together. We’ve got really good depth across all lines this year, where we’re able to cover the loss of players really well.”
The Hawks got the chocolates without stars Jak Kennedy-Hunt, Jack Fiolet, Robbie Logue and Mitch Elford.