Round 12 – Essendon v Hawthorn: It was a dark and stormy night … but mainly for Essendon

It was a dark and stormy night …. but mainly for Essendon

 

Round 12: Essendon v Hawthorn, 10 June 2016, Etihad Stadium

 

This wasn’t a ‘claimed’ sell out that most Essendon v Hawthorn games at Etihad have been in the past. Around my seat in general admission level 3, H row, aisle 24 at the north end, about a third of seats remained empty at the bounce. The ‘Four ‘N Twenty’ spelled out in brown seats amongst surrounding yellow seats at the southern end remained pretty visible for most of the night.

 

Before the initial team warm ups, Cooney was out for a while by himself. The Hawks came out about 7.14, and went back to the rooms by 7.30. Essendon having just emerged at 7.29. Some of the accompanying Essendon staff were wearing blue ‘(MJND) Big Freeze 2’ beanies.

 

From what I saw of the banners, the Hawks had ‘Relentless’ on one side. Essendon’s said ‘From everyone in red and black we can’t wait to see you back good luck Roughy’ on the back. A unexpected touch.

 

Goddard won the toss, and the Bombers kicked to the south. Essendon actually hit the scoreboard with the first goals, but by the end Hawthorn had kicked six. Would they be able to maintain that average for the full game? During the quarter time break a blimp was flown around and there was a competition for posting a photo of it.

 

The second quarter saw most of the action up the other end of the ground. The hawks ending up with a 40 point quarter average to maintain. The play ending soon after Puopolo intercepting and kicking a great goal. Essendon off the ground very quickly. Hawthorn’s kicking efficiency at 80%.

 

Half-time saw ‘goal celebrations’ on the big screen, which in my opinion were better than Kisscam.

 

The Hawks won the third quarter, but dropped off the 40 point average. Essendon seemed to still be getting lots of possessions, but they were mainly handballs, and couldn’t get the inside 50s they required.

 

The final quarter started at 9.50 pm, and by 9.58 it was very evident that a large chunk of the crowd had departed. The >90 point win was what Hawthorn needed for a percentage boost.

 

There were no injuries that I noticed on the night, but reports seen later said Goddard broke his nose in the first minute of the game!

 

Essendon:           2.1          4.3          5.5          6.7 (43)

Hawthorn:          6.7          13.7        17.9        23.13 (151)

 

Crowd: 27 567

 

Goals: Essendon: Daniher 2; Brown, J Merrett, Langford, Bird

Hawthorn: Breust, Puopolo, Gunston 4; Rioli 3; O’Brien, Stewart 2; Smith, Burgoyne, Shiels, Langford

 

Best: Essendon: Zaharakis, Merrett, Daniher

Hawthorn: Lewis, Rioli, Gibson, Puopolo, Shiels, Gunston

 

My votes: 3 Lewis, 2 Rioli, 1 Gibson

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About Alan Stewart

My first VFL memory is perched on my grandfather's shoulders watching a game at Glenferrie Oval during the school holidays, probably about 1968. Other football immersion is from many hours assisting my father doing maintenance or selling savs at the Tarrawingee football ground during the 1970s.

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