Pittonet at Witts’ end
HAWTHORN could be forced to turn to its third-string ruckman to combat in-form Gold Coast big man Jarrod Witts at UTas Stadium today.
Marc Pittonet — who has played just three AFL games and has not been sighted in the seniors since the last round of 2016 — flew with the team into Launceston yesterday as cover for Ben McEvoy, whose wife is pregnant and due any day.
The Hawks had already replaced back-up ruck Jon Ceglar (corked quad) with Tim O’Brien in their 22 and now could be without their leading big man should he need to rush back to Melbourne.
Small forward Paul Puopolo could also be required to return to Melbourne with his wife due soon as well.
Assistant coach Scott Burns said while the loss of McEvoy would be a blow, especially against the Suns No. 1 man who despite his side’s struggles is having a stellar season, it would be present a great opportunity for Pittonet.
“He had a long lay-off, nearly 700 days off so he was starting to get a little bit of continuity, a few games of VFL, two or three with us, he took a few grabs last week, which were really impressive,” Burns said of Ceglar.
“It is disappointing he is missing this one, but it’s nothing bad so he will be back the week after. Big Boy … he doesn’t get the get kudos of other big ruckmen of the competition but some of the ruckmen that are getting talked about a fair bit, he has probably cleaned them up this year.
“Pitto has been in great form in the VFL and as much we would love Benny to play, it would be a fantastic opportunity for a bloke like Pitto to come in.
“Witts has been in terrific form for the Gold Coast, some of their stats haven’t been great over the last four to six weeks but one area they have been strong is their hit-outs.”
Burns dismissed last year’s meetings between the two sides — the Suns upset the Hawks on both occasions including an 86-point hiding at Metricon Stadium — but despite their current struggles refused to buy into any talk of the clash being a cakewalk.
He said the club only had to look back to the Round 9 loss to then winless Brisbane as the blueprint of what can occur if the team is not switched on.
“There is a lot there that if we don’t bring our A grade game, they will worry us,” Burns said of a Gold Coast outfit that coughed up a five-goal lead at three-quarter time to St Kilda last week.
“We’ve been happy with some of the games we’ve played against the better teams. Brisbane knocked us off, we didn’t bring the effort and intensity that we needed to over four quarters.”