The Hawthorn Hawks snapped a four-week win drought by defeating the Adelaide Crows 10.15 (75) to 9.12 (66) in a tight Round 11 clash at UTAS Stadium on Thursday night.
Adelaide, playing under their Indigenous name Kuwarna, controlled the scoreboard early with a four-goal burst in the first quarter. Hawthorn responded by shutting down Kuwarna’s ball movement, launching a streak of seven unanswered goals across the second and third terms to take back the lead.
The momentum shift relied heavily on a tactical reshuffle. With Jack Gunston out, Blake Hardwick swung into the forward line to kick four match-winning goals. The night also saw Callum Ah Chee, returning from an eight-week hamstring injury, kick his 100th career goal just 16 seconds into the game, helping extend Hawthorn’s winning streak at the venue to 12 consecutive matches.
The nine-point victory featured a delayed concussion protocol intervention in the second quarter. Hawks forward Nick Watson collided heavily with James Borlase and sustained a head knock. Watson was allowed to remain on the field for four minutes before finally being pulled to take a Head Injury Assessment, which he passed. Meanwhile, Adelaide lost star playmaker Izak Rankine, who had collected eight first-quarter disposals before leaving the game in the third quarter with a suspected right calf injury.
Kuwarna coach Matthew Nicks expressed clear frustration over his team’s inability to halt Hawthorn’s run once the momentum flipped. Nicks directly compared the seven-goal defensive lapse to a similar performance drop they experienced against Brisbane back in Round 7.