Sam Frost, an injured key defender, is confident that Hawthorn can win the championship rather than just make up ground in the AFL finals.
The Hawks thrashed the Western Bulldogs by 37 points in the elimination round at the MCG on Friday night, setting up a semi-final matchup with Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
It is merely the most recent outstanding phase in an incredible comeback from a 0–5 start to the season.
Frost, who was declared out of the season on Sunday due to a foot injury, told AAP, “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, there’s a lot of footy to come.”
However, the group’s opinion is that we can succeed completely. Not our purpose here is to invent figures.
“To reach this stage of the season, we had to win a number of close games towards the end of the year. We’re going to explore as much as we can now that we’re here.”
And there’s redemption at stake.
In round 10, Hawthorn had an all-day lead over the Power, up to 41 points, but gave up the last six goals to lose by a point in the closing seconds.
After that devastating loss, Sam Mitchell’s Hawks won five straight games and eleven of their next thirteen to cap off an incredible run into the championship.
“We went away from what we’re good at and it was a good learning curve for us in how to finish off a game and not try to save the game too early,” Frost said.
It’s likely that a few clubs have picked up on that lesson this season. You can see how late in the game, significant leads get torn apart.
“We reviewed that and we learned a lot, so we’re looking forward to hopefully getting in the same position at three-quarter-time and not making the same mistake.”
Port will also look to exact revenge on Geelong for their crushing 84-point loss in the qualifying final, this time with the support of their hometown supporters.
The winning team will receive a preliminary final matchup at the SCG against minor premiers Sydney, which serves as the last warm-up match before the season-ending match.
Regarding the Port Adelaide test, Frost remarked, “That’ll be extremely challenging.”
They’re undoubtedly a fantastic team, and they’ll be trying to get back after suffering a difficult defeat.
“But if we succeed, it would undoubtedly be an incredible tale of redemption for us, and we welcome the task.
As much as we failed to cross the boundary in the hostile setting the prior time, this group’s confidence belies their love of animosity.
“It feeds their energy and they want to play to the crowd a bit, so (we’re) not worried about that one bit.”
The 31-year-old Frost is unsurprised by how fast Hawthorn has improved things.
“We had a strong pathway we wanted to take and I think we’re just reaping the rewards of that now,” he said.
Yes, it’s certainly sooner than any of us had anticipated, but we had always had faith in Sam’s intentions for us and the direction we were going.
“I’m not surprised with the group we’ve got and the coaches we’ve got – but it’s probably just earlier than we thought.”
SCHEDULE FOR WEEK TWO FINALS (all times AEST):
September 13, Friday
Second round of qualifying
Adelaide Oval vs. Hawthorn, 7.40 p.m. Port Adelaide
September 14, a Saturday
initial semifinal
Brisbane Lions vs. Greater Western Sydney, Engie Stadium, 7:30 p.m.
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