Mercury (Hobart)

Burgoyne a boost for Hawks

- JAMES BRESNEHAN

THE return of Shaun Burgoyne will make a “massive” difference for Hawthorn in its clash with St Kilda at UTas Stadium tomorrow night, but the Hawks miss the X-factor of forwards Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo, says midfielder Ricky Henderson.

Burgoyne’s streak of 107 consecutiv­e games — the third longest active streak in the AFL — ended when he strained a hamstring on Easter Monday.

On the rebound from a first-half hiding and a frustratin­g 28-point loss to North Melbourne last weekend, Hawthorn is out to right the wrongs against the Saints.

“They got the jump on us early and credit to North, they played a really good brand of football early,” Henderson said. “We didn’t do enough to combat that and didn’t do enough to win the ball inside. We will focus on that this week.”

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson had a shopping list of areas he was unhappy about, but top of the list were contested ball on the inside and unconteste­d marks.

“They had about 40 unconteste­d marks in the first quarter. That hurt us a fair bit,” Henderson said.

“We couldn’t defend inside or outside. They were beating us all over the park.

“It was good that we responded in the second half and got it back to within 28 points — we gave it a fair nudge but we couldn’t roll them.”

The return of Burgoyne will help steady the ship.

“He makes a massive difference when he plays — defence or forward and in the midfield — he has that composure and high pressure which we love,” Henderson said.

After five games the Hawks are 3-2 and seventh on the ladder, but that is not a pass mark.

“The competitio­n is so tight, it’s unrealisti­c to think we’re going to win every game,” Henderson said.

“We’ve been down in a couple of quarters here and there but overall we are playing some good football.”

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