Amid a wave of injuries on either side, Hawthorn have trumped Essendon by 27points to start their 2025 season with back-to-back wins.
It was an unanswered seven-goal streak across the first and second term that put the Hawks in the box seat all night, with their pin-point kicking seeing them finish on 17.9 (111) over a wayward Bombers’ 12.13 (85).
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“That was a tough win,” Hawthorn star Dylan Moore told Fox Footy’s Jordan Lewis immediately after the final siren.
A magical first AFL goal for Isaac Kako kick-started the night in front of 80,735 fans — a crowd that is Hawthorn’s biggest home crowd in 14 years all the way back in 2011.
But from there, it was predominately the Hawks, as small forwards Nick Watson, Moore and Jack Ginnivan combined for eight majors in a forward 50 clinic. The Bombers kicked five goals in the final term to linger longer than some may have expected, but the deficit proved itself too hard to rectify after Hawthorn’s 10-goal first half.
The sole sour note for Sam Mitchell’s side was a concussion to key cog Jack Scrimshaw, who was subbed out before half time after a gruesome head clash with new teammate Josh Battle.
The rebounding defender ran straight into the former Saint amid a defensive contest, as friendly fire got the better of the 109-gamer — subbed out in place of fellow defender Sam Frost.
MATCHCENTRE:Hawthornvs. Essendon final scores, stats
Rival counterpart Jordan Ridley was also subbed out at the main break from a head knock, with both injured players to miss their respective Round 2 clashes.
Things went from bad to worse in the third term for Brad Scott’s Bombers, as gun forward Kyle Langford hobbled to the bench in pain with an evident hamstring injury. The 28-year-old took no further part in the match, and was seen with ice heavily strapped to his right leg.
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TEAM LINE UPS
HAWTHORN
B: T.Barrass, B.Hardwick, M.D’Ambrosio
HB: J.Scrimshaw, J.Impey, J.Battle
C: D.Moore, C.Nash, J.Sicily
HF: C.Macdonald, H.Morrison, N.Watson
F: J.Ginnivan, M.Chol, W.Day
FOLL: L.Meek, J.Ward, K.Amon
I/C: J.Weddle, J.Newcombe, C.Mackenzie, F.Maginness, S.Frost
EMG: C.Jiath, J.Gunston, L.Breust
ESSENDON
B: A.McGrath, B.McKay, J.Ridley
HB: M.Redman, Z.Reid, J.Prior
C: N.Martin, J.Caldwell, A.Roberts
HF: N.Caddy, K.Langford, A.Perkins
F: H.Jones, S.Draper, I.Kako
FOLL: N.Bryan, S.Durham, Z.Merrett
I/C: E.Tsatas, B.Hobbs, D.Shiel, J.Gresham, X.Duursma
EMG: J.Menzie, S.El-Hawli, T.Edwards
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