Mitchell backed to take the heat
HAWTHORN has prepared for midfield ball magnet Tom Mitchell to be targeted by North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium tomorrow.
Coach Alastair Clarkson won’t be fazed if the Kangaroos’ run-with specialist Ben Jacobs tags Mitchell in a similar role as Melbourne captain Nathan Jones last round.
“Mitch prepares for all sorts of contingencies through the course of a game,” Clarkson said. “And that will be one of them. He [Jacobs] has tagged some good players in the last three weeks,” Clarkson said.
“Mitch made a really good contribution despite being run with by Nathan Jones last week. He probably played just as an important role for us last week as he had in the first three rounds of the season. It just didn’t have the same significance to the outside footy world.
“It’s certainly not a case for us that, if he gets tagged, we’re thinking we’re in all sorts of trouble. As long as he’s disciplined about it, which he was last week, it can be a real benefit for our side.”
Clarkson said some of Mitchell’s “sacrificial moves” in the midfield battles last Sunday allowed the Hawks to negate in-form Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn and cleared a path for other Hawk midfielders to have an impact in the victory. The Hawks coach said the midfield battles were even more critical this time, with the menace of North Melbourne’s tall targets Ben Brown and Jarrad Waite on the tighter Docklands oval.
“It’s a lot to do with the midfield and supply. If we allow them to generate 50 to 60 inside 50s [entries], then we’re not going to be able to stop Brown and Waite, I don’t think,” Clarkson said.
On the loss of injured small forwards Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo, Clarkson said: “Obviously, they have been important players for us for a long period of time, but we were without them for a fair chunk of last season and we were able to win games of footy, particularly in the second half of the season. Unfortunately for us, we’ve got to do that again.
“Every side in the competition at different stages has to endure a little discomfort with key players out of the side.”