‘Right now, they’re dying a slow death’: AFL contender’s flaws in spotlight as flag dream in jeopardy

Hawthorn’s “bruise-free” play this past fortnight has been exposed as its offensive struggles also come under scrutiny.

In Friday night’s comprehensive 51-point loss to Collingwood, the Hawks posted their second-worst tackle differential (-44) on record, while for the Pies, it was their best-ever return.

And on the attacking side of things, their inability to punish from defensive-midfield in particular breeds serious concern for their premiership candidacy — and it could mean they “die a slow death” in 2025.

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Hawthorn is still 7-5 and sitting in sixth spot on the ladder, but it has concerningly dropped three-straight games and five of its past eight after starting the season 4-0.

“I’m going to take aim at the bruise-free Hawks; (at) the bruise-free footy they’ve been playing over the past fortnight,” began chief Herald Sun football writer Jay Clark on Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“They were premiership favourites earlier in the season, and they’ve become the worst pressure team in the competition over the past five weeks.”

Against Brisbane in Round 11, Hawthorn posted a tackle differential of -23 and a pressure rating of 159. Against Collingwood on Friday night, it was a staggering -44 with a rating of 155.

“They play the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night, and right at the moment, they’re the worst tackling team in the competition,” Clark continued.

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“So, you know what the emphasis is going to be for Sam Mitchell and the brown and gold this week. They take on ... the best tackle-breaking team (the Bulldogs) in the competition, and (the Dogs) come up against the brown and gold tissue paper — because that’s what they are at the moment.

“That is a complete mismatch, and the frame of which this game will be played on Thursday night, and it’s fair to say if we’re going to take Hawthorn seriously, they’ve got to bin the one-way footy, because that’s what’s happening at the moment.

“Sam Mitchell might say ‘contest and clearance has been alright’, but when you look at all the players last week who had zero and one tackle, there’s about nine of them, and that’s not good enough for a team that wants to hold up the cup at the end of the season.”

Asked for his post-game message to the players, Mitchell told reporters on Friday night: “It was more me asking them, actually. Had a bit of a discussion around: ‘Let it all out, what’s gone on? Where are you at? Where are we at? What do you think?’

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 30: Dylan Moore of the Hawks looks dejected after losing the round 12 AFL match between Collingwood Magpies and Hawthorn Hawks at Melbourne Cricket Ground, on May 30, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/via Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

“I think it was pretty clear to everyone that was here and those watching at home that we’re, at this point, miles off it.”

Post-bye last year, Hawthorn ranked first in the competition for points per 100 intercepts. But thus far in 2025, it sits 10th for the same metric.

King detailed specifically where things were going wrong for the Hawks with ball in hand.

“It’s not as fluent; it’s a little bit clunky. It’s not working as it should or as it did in the post-bye area of last year,” he said as vision played of poor decision-making with the Sherrin.

“And they’re just simple errors ... that pressure bubble that the Pies were able to bring — let’s be honest, they weren’t able to handle (it). They made some of their players look really slow.

“I don’t know what’s happened to Chol and Sicily and Gunston over the past couple of weeks — they just look like they can’t really get going.

Pies masterclass too much for Hawks | 02:21

“They’re reaching (trying to pull off hard kicks), trying to do too much, some of them. And others are not doing enough. So, they’re all out of sorts at the moment ... they’ve completely lost their ball use and their damage.

“We touched on this three or four weeks ago and people just scoffed ... on this night (against Collingwood), when everything wasn’t quite going their way, they went away from what makes them great — and you’ve got to stay the course.”

The Hawks have also gone from first post-bye last year to 12th in 2025 for points per 100 intercepts from half-back.

“If you can’t punish in 2025, shut the gate,” King continued.

“The heartbeat of your game-plan is being able to punish from your half-back area — that defensive-midfield zone, just back-of-centre to the top of your defensive 50 — we see it in all the good sides; counterpunch at speed and score.

“Last year that was them ... they’ve lost what made them great. They’ve got to get it back. There’s one way to get it back, and that’s go harder ... because right now, they’re dying a slow death.”

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