Hawthorn have survived a huge scare against Adelaide to secure their twelfth-consecutive victory in Tasmania, while snapping a run of three winless matches. But they had to seriously work for it after Adelaide made the early running on a cold Thursday night at UTAS Stadium. The Hawks managed to climb ahead in the second quarter before the Crows charged again in the last, ultimately falling short 10.15 (75) to 9.12 (66).
Bruising Encounter
It was a bruising encounter, with the Crows losing star Izak Rankine to a calf issue, while the Hawks had a huge scare when gun forward Nick Watson was almost wiped out in the first half. Fortunately for 'the Wizard', the incident happened late in the second quarter, and most of the minutes he lost while going through a head injury assessment (HIA) were soaked up in the long break.
Watson's Brave Moment
Asked about the collision, where he bravely went back with the flight of the ball, Watson said: 'I just had to go for it. Coach Sam Mitchell is really big on being tough, and I just had to put my head over it, and luckily I got back on my feet.' Watson told 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary. Cleary asked: 'So the doc came out to you. You got to stay out for a couple more minutes. Then what happened?' Watson replied: 'I had to go get tested, which I was filthy with, because I was feeling it a bit, so I got angry at him, but it was in the moment.'
Izak Rankine was ruled out of the game with a calf issue. More to come ... Stream free on 7plus.
