Hawthorn smashes Essendon by 62 points at the MCG as Hawks shrug off turbulent week

Not the contest we were hoping for tonight, but it wasn't without its highlights. And if you're a Hawks fan, I imagine you loved just about every minute of it.

The blog will be back tomorrow for four big games, so I look forward to your company then. Until then, goodnight.

Hawthorn has put its failure to poach Essendon star Zach Merrett well and truly behind it after thumping the Bombers by 62 points to get its AFL season off the mark.

The Hawks were seeking a response to their opening-round loss to GWS, along with a week in the headlines and they did just that, as a run of six unanswered goals in Friday night's second term set up a 21.19 (145) to 13.5 (83) victory at the MCG.

News emerged on Tuesday forwards Dylan Moore and Connor Macdonald had spent a night in an Arizona jail in November for alleged trespassing after climbing a scissor lift while out drinking, with Moore stripped of the vice-captaincy.

But all eyes were on Merrett, who last off-season unsuccessfully requested a trade to Hawthorn, despite holding the captaincy and having two years left on his contract.

Merrett, who stepped down as skipper, received a combination of cheers and jeers from the crowd of 71,384 fans when he took possession for the first time.

But Merrett brought the house down in the second term after he intercepted the ball, burst forward and kicked a thumping goal from just inside 50.

But the game descended into a demoralising season opener for the Bombers, where the Hawks took advantage of turnovers and converted them into devastating attacks.

Sam Mitchell's call to bring in Ned Reeves (two goals, 16 hitouts) to partner Lloyd Meek (26 hitouts) in the ruck paid dividends.

Hawthorn's midfield of Jai Newcombe (22 disposals, ), Josh Ward (26 disposals, five clearances) and Conor Nash (23, seven clearances) dominated.

Jack Gunston (five goals) and Nick Watson (four) were damaging while silky pair Karl Amon (23 disposals, 629 metres gained) and Jarman Impey (22) were superb.

Macdonald (24 disposals, two goals) and Moore (24 disposals, one goal) responded.

Merrett (32 disposals) all but played a lone hand, with help from Mason Redman (26 touches) while Sam Durham (23 disposals) kicked two early goals but couldn't maintain the rage.

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The Hawks coach is up and no doubt feeling much better about life.

On the competitive start:

"Once the game settled we felt like we were in amongst it. We played some reasonably good footy in the early stage even while the score stayed quite tight. We weren't happy with how they were getting their scores, normally from our errors."

On how the Hawks will assess the game:

"I'm pleased with the performance overall, we put a pretty good score up, but this game is going to be about consistency of high performance. We'll be moving on pretty quick. We need to play much more often like we did tonight. We're happy, we'll sleep well tonight, but we'll move on quickly to make sure we can back up high performance."

On last week's showing:

"The players did a good job of owning up and saying 'we didn't work hard enough'. Because of that they took responsibilty and produced a really strong performance. We're a fit group, but we need to actually use it."

On using two rucks:

"We haven't used the double rucks for quite a long time, but Ned has been a high performer where he has been playing. He's improved his footy, and I was really happy for him. And I was really happy for us, he was a high performer tonight and certainly we'll be sticking with the two rucks."

On the new rules:

"Essendon used the stand rule really well, and caused us some issues from kick ins in particular. There are a couple of rule changes that we haven't worked out yet, to be fair."

The Bombers coach is up first in the press centre:

On the rapid fadeout:

"It didn't take me by surprise. I'm reluctant to say that we prepared really well because of the outcome. We understand how much we have to do to bridge the gap between us and the top four teams. But we were beaten by what we were concerned about coming into the game.

"We're very concerned about their ability to bounce us out of our forward half. That usually comes from intercept. Our inability to stop them tranitioning out of front half was nowhere near the level.

"I don't think anyone's under any illusions that we've got a big gap to bridge, but we got a good lesson tonight."

On cohesion within the team:

"Someone told me we've had 20 debutants since Hawthorn have had one. Those sort of connection things and understanding what your teammates are going to do unfortunately takes time. Our ability to take the game on and put Hawthorn under some pressure early was OK, but we couldn't hold it up."

On Zach Merrett's game:

"No one should have been surprised by the way Zach played tonight. We know him so well, and that's just what he's made of."

On rule changes it making it tougher for developing sides:

"It's going to be very, very hard to contain very, very good sides. Is that good for the game? Probably. The AFL talks about margin compression. Well, best of luck with that when the best play teams that are young and inexperienced."

I reckon that was just about as good a game as Connor Macdonald has played. A greater midfield role could be the making of the young man as his class and poise was critical in there, and he didn't lose his ability to score either.

Josh Ward had a big game too, another important young piece of that midfield.

Of course, Jack Gunston was amazing for his five goals. Goes without saying at this point, though we shouldn't really forget how amazing this late-career surge has been.

The rucks, Ned Reeves and Lloyd Meek, shared the ruck responsibilties and dominated in that area. And then the big backs in James Sicily, Tom Barrass and Josh Battle were dominant after the first quarter.

Whole team effort, really. Winners all over the ground.

Nick Watson kicks his fourth goal after the siren to rub Essendon's nose in the dirt one final time. It's been a proper belting at the 'G tonight.

In the end the only surprise is that the Bombers kept up with Hawthorn for a quarter and a half. Because everything that came after that was so dominant, so comprehensive that it's tough to imagine the game ever being a contest.

Hawthorn controlled the ball to a ridiculous degree. The Hawks had 150 uncontested marks if my calculations are correct, which is insane. That's got to be close to a record. The Bombers couldn't lay a glove on them as they chipped and ran the ball from end to end effortlessly.

That's a chastening defeat for the Bombers though, one which might be tough to recovery quickly from. This is a rebuilding side, one which is really only looking for little wins, but even still the big defeats can be painful.

The Hawks are up and running though. The GWS defeat will be forgotten now, this is the Hawthorn we were expecting in 2026.

Nick Watson has three, the latest of which is a trademark effort. Perfectly timed crumb of the pack, front and centre and bursting into space. Then the checkside finish was brilliant.

Good night for Watson, who is primed for a big year.

I guess you can give the Bombers some credit for winning this last quarter? Cashing in on the sloppiness from the Hawks? You take whatever you can get at this point, and we'd be punishing them for the opposite.

Fifty points isn't the end of the world if that's how it shakes out. Four minutes to play.

Something for the remaining Bombers fans to celebrate. The Hawks have put the cue in the rack and are just seeing out time now.

The Bombers started well and are finishing acceptably too. Everything in between is the problem.

The margin is 62 points now. Anything under 10 goals probably flatters the Bombers.

Really clever kick from Parish to find Perkins inside 50 there. Parish is another who has been decent in defeat.

He hasn't been their worst, not by a long shot. Duursma has played largely forward tonight and has looked pretty good when he's had a run at it.

Nice set shot from 50.

Game is petering out now, the margin only being protected by some Hawthorn inaccuracy on goal. Jack Ginnovan could have kicked a handful today but has been wayward with his finishing.

There might be something to be said for Hawthorn having a game to tune up for this, while the Bombers have come in cold. It's very difficult to quantify the advantage or disadvantage held by the Opening Round teams, but the Hawks seem very well advanced of Essendon in every aspect here, though they likely will be all year.

He's going to be doing this forever. He'll be kicking bags when he's 45.

Certainly he could if it was easy as this every week. Basically no defence at all on these uncontested marks for Hawthorn, and in the end Gunston led ahead of Reid by about 25 metres. It's hard to watch for Bombers fans.

We had a game halfway through the second quarter. By three-quarter-time it's a procession unfortunately. The Hawks have well and truly broken the Bombers and were toying with them in that third quarter, 'how many?' the only question left to answer.

Fatigue was hitting the Hawks by the end of that quarter too, so this last term could be a bit of a slog. But if they fancy it they could really do some damage to the Bombers here. It's critical Essendon doesn't let that happen, otherwise the scars from this game may last all season.

And a greater gift he will never receive for the rest of his Essendon career. Scrimshaw kicked into the man on the mark in the back pocket and the ball fell straight to El Achkar on the tip of the goalsquare.

They don't come easier, but they can never take it away from Hussien El Achkar. A glimmer for the Bombers fans.

I don't want to be disrespectful to the Bombers, but it feels like preseason training for the Hawks. They just had six blokes completely free in the middle of the ground running forward as one, without a defender anywhere near them.

Naturally the Hawks raffled it off and eventually found Newcombe inside 50 to mark and goal. There are Bombers fans heading for the exits now, and there are still five minutes to play in the third.

Geez. It's out of control.

The Hawks finally missed a target inside 50 and the Bombers had a chance to take it and run, but instead ran into a brick wall and turned it over. Ginnivan strolled to 50 and finished delightfully.

At risk of repeating myself, the Hawks have just strolled from back pocket to forward pocket in the blink of an eye and without a hand being laid on them. They're just picking the Bombers totally apart.

It's non-competitive now. The Hawks are eyeing a huge score here.