Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says there have been numerous AFL premiership favourites who couldn’t complete the job, but his men have at least given themselves another chance.
The Hawks were firm favourites heading into last year’s grand final, when they had five more scoring shots than Sydney but still lost by ten points.
They almost did something similar in Friday night’s classic preliminary final win over Geelong, needing 10 more scoring shots than the Cats to win 14.18 (102) to 15.7 (97) after coming from 20 points down at the last change.
Hawthorn will again be hot favourites for this year’s decider, against the winner of Saturday night’s Fremantle-Sydney preliminary final in Perth.
But Clarkson suggested that didn’t mean much.
“They’re damn hard to win,” he told reporters after Friday night’s thrilling victory.
“What we’re trying to do as a footy club is just give ourselves a chance by getting as high up the ladder and finishing in the top four, knowing full well that sometimes the door will open.”
He noted that North Melbourne were the season’s best side in 1998, lost that year’s grand final to Adelaide, but won the premiership a year later despite Essendon having been the dominant side throughout that season.
“You’ve just got to keep presenting to give yourself a chance to open that door when it’s available to you,” Clarkson said.
“It’s very, very difficult.
“We’ve been a really competitive footy side over the last three or four years and we’re delighted that we get another chance.”
Clarkson said there were areas the Hawks could improve.
Goal-kicking accuracy is an obvious one.
The fact that star forward trio Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Cyril Rioli managed just one goal between them is another.
“We feel like we’ve got some improvement in the way that we play,” the coach said.
“But quite often grand finals aren’t won with the most beautiful football and indeed preliminary finals either.
“It’s usually just a hard slog.”
Clarkson expressed sympathy for youngster Brendan Whitecross, who ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in a qualifying final last year – wiping him out for the grand final and the first half of this season – and who appears to have repeated the injury on Friday night.
“That’s heartbreaking for Whitey and his teammates and our club if that’s the case,” Clarkson said.