September 20, 2008

HAWTHORN will enter a dream grand final against Geelong on Saturday in awesome form after smashing St Kilda 18.10 (118) to 9.10 (64) in their preliminary final at the MCG.

The Hawks sent an emphatic statement to the all-conquering Cats with their extremely impressive victory, setting up the premiership decider that has looked likely all season.

It will be the Hawks' first grand final since the glorious era which yielded five flags in nine seasons from 1983 to 1991, and the first grand final meeting between Hawthorn and Geelong since 1989, when they produced one of the all-time classics.

But Saturday night's win was not without cost, with star utility Luke Hodge spending several stints on the bench with a suspected rib injury, after being crunched by Saints big man Justin Koschitzke in a first-quarter marking contest.

Hodge was coughing up blood at the quarter-time break and Hawks doctors tested him with a stethoscope.

But he showed typical courage to return to the ground and continue throwing himself in front of leading St Kilda forwards, indicating there is little doubt he will take his place in the grand final.

Five-goal small forward Mark Williams could attract the scrutiny of the match review panel for making high contact on Saints defender Max Hudghton, when he had his head bent over the ball, late in the game.

Star forward Lance Franklin, who was well held by Hudghton, also sent a minor scare through the Hawks camp when he briefly left the ground with a hand injury late in the first term, but seemed untroubled later.

Those concerns aside, things could not have gone better for the Hawks.

After leading by 13 points at the first change, they exploded in the second term, dominating all over the ground to win the quarter 7.1 to 1.3 and set up a 47-point half-time lead.

It was clear it was going to be the Hawks' night when Jarryd Roughead and Shane Crawford goaled from sensational snaps a minute apart to end the term.

When the sides last met, in round 16, the Saints came from 28 points down at half-time to win by five goals.

But any glimmer of hope another comeback might be on the cards was snuffed out in the space of six minutes in the second half.

Franklin kicked his only goal of the match in the opening minute, with Roughead and Cyril Rioli goaling soon after to extend the buffer to an unreachable 66 points.

The Hawks were served superbly by hard-nosed midfielders skipper Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Brad Sewell, who gave their side complete control in the packs.

Running players Brent Guerra, Clinton Young, Grant Birchall and Crawford took full advantage, while in attack Williams' heroics overshadowed key forwards Franklin and Roughead (four goals).

Midfielder Chance Bateman closed down Nick Dal Santo, while Trent Croad and late inclusion Stephen Gilham blanketed Saints key forwards Nick Riewoldt and Koschitzke.

Riewoldt kicked three goals in a five-minute burst late in the third term, when the contest was effectively over, but otherwise failed to have an impact.

The Hawks' win means 34-year-old veteran and former Brownlow medallist Crawford will play his first grand final in his 305th game, after joining the club just as their golden era ended.

But the Saints' much-loved 37-year-old veteran Robert Harvey bowed out on a flat note, without a premiership among his club record 383 games.

The Hawks formed a guard of honour for Harvey as he left an AFL field for the last time, chaired off by Hudghton and Lenny Hayes to an enormous ovation.

His retirement left Hudghton, who is yet to declare whether he will play on next year as the only remaining member of St Kilda's last grand final side, in 1997.

It was the Saints' third preliminary finals loss in five years, but unlike the heartbreakers of 2004 against Port Adelaide and 2005 against Sydney, they were never in the hunt this time.

Hodge was adamant after the match his injury was nothing that would place him in doubt for the grand final.

"It was just a normal knock, everyone gets them in games, so nothing to worry about ... you're making a bigger deal than what it was," he said.

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson added that it would take handcuffs to prevent Hodge from playing against the Cats.

Clarkson said his side's effort was full of spirit and character and demonstrated they were worthy of meeting Geelong in the decider.

"It's been a great effort by the whole football club, not just the playing group but the coaching group and administration to get ourselves into a position where we can be in a grand final," he said.

"The next challenge obviously is to give ourselves every chance of winning it.

"We demonstrated with our attack on the footy and our use of the footy that we're a very worthy grand finalist this year and we intend to go as hard as we possibly can next week."

He said his finals-inexperienced squad would relish the week ahead.

"Our confidence going into the game will be sky high on the back of two really good finals performances," Clarkson said.

"What we can bring, despite the fact we haven't got the experience ... is a tremendous enthusiasm and excitement because none of us have been in this position before, I imagine it will be for most blokes the most exciting week of their lives."

Saints coach Ross Lyon said the club would not allow itself to ignore the lessons from the huge defeat.

"We certainly didn't bring any honour to each individual, our fans and our club tonight, particularly in the first half," he said.

"It won't be swept under the carpet, we've got to add talent, we've got to add systems, we've got to add work ethic and we're in the business of getting better, we've got to bridge the gap.

"Clearly all year there's been a gap to the top three, we thought we'd bridged it closer than what we delivered tonight and we'll keep working and anyone that doesn't work, isn't mentally strong, we'll weed out."

Lyon said Hudghton had given a strong indication he would play on next year but was still to make a final decision.