By Marcus Uhe
A look beyond the surface of Rowville’s consecutive final quarter collapses reveals plenty about the challenges Ben Wise has been thrown in the opening weeks of the season.
Not only have they faced two sides expected to be there or thereabouts in 2023, in Balwyn and Noble Park, but a swathe of injuries to key players has seen his spine gutted and many of his leaders not able to take the field.
Jackson McDonald, Kyle Stanthorpe, Curtis Blakemore, Lachlan Stapleton, Tyler Edwards and Ali Zijai have all spent time on the sidelines through various ailments, and are critical pieces to the 2022 runners-up line-up this season.
“These guys are experienced players who understand the way that we play and are really important for our ball movement,” Wise said.
“It’s a little bit unfortunate, last year we didn’t really have a problem with it and the program’s been similar.
“It’s just one of those things that we have to deal with at the moment.”
The leadership deficit was again on show on Saturday against Park Orchards as they conceded six goals in the opening quarter.
Thoroughly disappointed with how they opened the game, Wise called his troops in at quarter time and hit them between the eyes with some honest feedback,
But he credited the senior players who are still standing, in Nik Shoekmakers and Anthony Brolic, with instigating the turnaround.
“They jumped us and played really well and quarter time couldn’t come quick enough,” he said.
“We brought it in and refocused and went through a couple of things that we were doing really poorly, not playing to instructions.
“The warm-up was a little bit off, we were a bit jovial.
“Maybe they were a little bit flat after the last couple of weeks but I thought they maybe didn’t pay the respect early enough that they should have to the opposition, and that’s why we got caught out.”
Fourth quarters have not been kind to the Hawks this year, conceding seven and eight goals to Balwyn and Noble Park respectively to surrender advantages at three-quarter-time.
This week was different; the Hawks conceded only one, holding the fort for the final 10 minutes of the game without conceding after Zac Greeves put them in front in the 16th minute.
Wise was pleased with their ability to shift the terms of the game and implement what they had spoken about on the track.
“The last two weeks prior we haven’t played very well in the last quarter,” he said.
“It was really good that we understood, spoke and trained for things, and if we were in positions like we were – close games – what we do and what sort of mode we go into.
“We slowed the game down and kept possession, which takes five or six minutes off the clock at different stages and gives you a bit more ascendency and control.”
