Hawks embracing winter grind in fierce competition

DRYSDALE will be aiming for its fifth win in a row when it takes on Barwon Heads at home in the BFL tomorrow (Saturday, June 14) at 2.10pm.

The Hawks are second on the ladder with a 6-3 record, while the Seagulls are sixth at 4-5.

Coach Ben Carmichael said Barwon Heads had a strong squad and the Hawks would look to give its forwards plenty of supply.

“This time of year, it starts to get a bit colder, it starts to get a bit harder.

“We’re really embracing what we call ‘the grind season’ so we’ll continue to focus on making sure we’re playing good footy this time of year.”

The Hawks are coming off a 11.15 (81) to 8.8 (56) victory against Modewarre in Round 9.

They burst out of the gates with a 29-8 lead at quarter-time, with Luke Preece, Jack Jenkins and James Breust featuring in the best.

“It was a solid performance, Modewarre are really hard to beat out there and they’ve had some really good form at home,” Carmichael said.

“So with the tricky conditions, we just really embraced going out there.

 

“Apart from the last 15 minutes of the game, we thought we controlled it pretty well and were happy to get a result.”

Carmichael explained what had worked so well for his charges across the past month.

“Probably our connection across the ground, we’re starting to get a bit of stability within our side,” he said.

“Our work around contest and post-contest has been really good and we’re giving our forwards an opportunity to have looks.”

He said the Hawks were also doing well to limit opposition shots and scoring.

On the injury front, Tim Delaney is close to a return from a calf, Matt Gunn has reinjured his hamstring and Nick Egan will miss some footy with “having a cleanout on his knee”.

Paddy Power (ankle syndesmosis) has been out since Round 2 and is working toward his comeback.

“He’s out of the moonboot and he’ll be back and training this week,” Carmichael said.

“He’s probably two to three weeks away, which would be great for him.”

Tom Ruggles will return after missing Round 9 due to illness.