Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has some plans for Collingwood ahead of their Gather Round clash on Sunday.
The Hawks have had the wood over Collingwood in recent years, having won the last 14 of 17 games between the sides but enter this clash as heavy underdogs after losing the likes of Mitch Lewis, Luke Breust and Nick Watson to injury.
Hawthorn, like the rest of the competition, have looked closely at Collingwood over the last two years with everyone trying to stop the reigning premiers from finding their best footy.
While the Magpies changed some of the ways they went about things in their Round 3 win over Brisbane at the Gabba, Mitchell says there’s still signatures with how Collingwood play which the Hawks will try and take away from them at the Adelaide Oval.
“When you’re the premier, everyone knows a lot more about your game than potentially anyone else’s,” Mitchell said on SEN Breakfast.
“So, I think everyone has been looking at Collingwood over the last six months and probably the last two years. ‘What are they doing? Why are they being so successful? Why are they so good in close games?’
“So, everyone knows more about Collingwood than they do most teams. There are certainly signatures to the way every team plays.
“They changed a couple of things last week. It’s pretty hard to win at the Gabba and they were pretty good. We’ve obviously got some plans for this week and we’ll see how we go.
“I’m not sure when Ross (Lyon) said they’re vulnerable, but we certainly hope they are on the weekend. They haven’t proven to be that type of team over the last couple of years.”
One way that Hawthorn can take away a strength of the opposition is through using Finn Maginness as a tagger on one of Collingwood’s stars.
The stopper went to Nick Daicos in the last matchup between the sides, comprehensively blanketing the young superstar in the first half before he went down with injury in the second.
Maginness has been recalled into the extended squad from the VFL for the big game but Mitchell isn’t sure whether the Hawks will use him on Daicos again.
When they met last year, Mitchell was more than happy to reveal pre-game that he’d be sending him Daicos’ way.
“Last year I thought that everyone knows he’s going to do this and I may as well just tell them,” Mitchell said.
“Whereas this week, genuinely I could not say if we’ve made that decision just yet. He’s in the squad so we do have it in our kitbag, but there are a few different roles that Finn can play if he does come into the side.
“No answers from me today, sorry boys.”
If not Daicos, Jordan De Goey could be a tagging target with opposition teams all trying to nullify his influence in 2024 following a dominant 2023 finals campaign.
While the midfield duo are the obvious picks to try and negate, Mitchell says that the Hawks will also think about trying to take away the strengths of several other Magpies on gameday.
“I don’t think it’s just those two,” Mitchell said.
“If you look at the role that someone like Jeremy Howe plays or Scott Pendlebury, they’ve got some key roles with key players who play them so well. Darcy Moore’s last few weeks have been good.
“You have to figure out where you need to resource and who has the least ripples on your own side. We’re always trying to stay true to ourselves. That’s where we went a little bit wrong with the Melbourne game, we went a bit too far from our DNA.
“I think this week we need to make sure we continue to look like us while trying to shut down a couple of their key playmakers.”
Hawthorn will reveal their starting 23 when the full teams are released at 5 pm (AEDT) on Friday.
The Hawks and Pies meet on the Adelaide Oval at 5:10 pm (AEST) on Sunday.
