2011 Hawthorn Football Club season

Hawthorn Football Club

2011 season
President	Jeff Kennett
Coach	Alastair Clarkson
Captain(s)	Luke Hodge
Home ground	Aurora Stadium (Capacity: 23,000) MCG (Capacity: 100,018)
Pre-season competition	First round
AFL Season	3rd
Preliminary Final
Best and Fairest	Sam Mitchell
Leading goalkicker	Lance Franklin (82)
← 2010 2012 →

The Hawthorn Football Club's 2011 season is its 86th season in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Overview

The club recruited David Hale from North Melbourne, Cameron Bruce and Kyle Cheney from Melbourne, and in the national draft selected midfielders with pace.

Player draft

Draftee	Pick selection	Original Club
Isaac Smith	16	North Ballarat
Mitch Hallahan	38	Dandenong Stingrays
Angus Litherland	55	Claremont
Paul Puopolo	66	Norwood

Pre-season

NAB Cup

Round	Opposition Team[1]	Venue	Result	Game Summary
First round	West Coast Eagles	Patersons Stadium	0.5.1 (31) – 0.4.5 (29)	Lost by 2 points
First round	Fremantle Dockers	Patersons Stadium	1.4.4 (37) – 0.3.5 (23)	Won by 14 points

Premiership season

Home and away season

Round	Opposition team[2]	Venue	Result	Game summary	Report
1	Adelaide Crows	AAMI Stadium	Lost 16.9 (105) - 12.13 (85)	Hawthorn led for much of the first half, at one point by 30 points, before falling away to lose by 20 points	Report
2	Melbourne Demons	MCG	Won 16.26 (122) – 12.5 (77)	Inaccurate kicking saw the Hawks trail Melbourne by more than three goals at one point during the first half.	Report
3	Richmond Tigers	MCG	Won 6.16 (52) – 17.13 (115)	Hawthorn beat Richmond by 63 points on a rainswept night at the MCG. Lance Franklin kicking five goals.	Report
4	West Coast Eagles	Aurora Stadium	Won 10.12 (72) - 9.11 (65)	Hawthorn came from behind to beat West Coast. Lance Franklin kicks six goals, three of which came in a tense final quarter	Report
5	Geelong Cats	MCG	Lost 15.8 (98) - 17.15 (117)	After scoring the first 26 points of the match, and leading for most of the match, Hawthorn lost a close one by 19 points.	Report
6	Bye
7	Port Adelaide Power	AAMI Stadium	Won 10.12 (72) - 15.14 (104)	An out-of-form Port Adelaide started strongly and maintained a two-goal lead until half way into the third quarter. After David Rodan was injured, Hawks dominated until the final siren. Isaac Smith and Paul Puopolo made their debuts.	Report
8	St Kilda Saints	MCG	Won 14.15 (99) - 10.9 (69)	After trailing five goals to none at quarter time, and losing Stephen Gilham to a season-ending knee injury, the Hawks came back strongly in the second quarter, and eventually won by 30 points. It was their first win over the Saints in a regular season match since 2007. Luke Breust kicked two goals on debut.	Report
9	Sydney Swans	SCG	Won 8.12 (60) - 15.16 (106)	After a close and tense first half, the Hawks pulled away to record its first win in Sydney since 2003. Lance Franklin kicked 6.6, and Max Bailey played his first game in two years after his third knee reconstruction.	Report
10	Western Bulldogs	Etihad Stadium	Won 9.8 (62) - 13.13 (91)	Hawthorn's precision kicking helped them to a comfortable lead by half time. Hawthorn survived a late scare from the Bulldogs to win by 29 points.	Report
11	Fremantle Dockers	MCG	Won 17.9 (111) - 13.11 (89)	Hawthorn won its fifth match in a row, but had to come back from 28 points down early in the final quarter against Fremantle. Hawthorn ended up winning by 22 points.	Report
12	Geelong Cats	MCG	Lost 13.10 (88) - 13.5 (83)	After a slow start, the Hawks fought back to lead by 17 points at three-quarter-time. However, a scoreless final quarter resulted in Hawthorn losing for the third time this season and the second time against Geelong this season. The loss ensures Hawthorn have not beaten Geelong since the 2008 AFL Grand Final.	Report
13	Gold Coast Suns	Aurora Stadium	Won 19.15 (129) - 8.10 (58)	The Hawks kicked thirteen goals to four after halftime to turn a 17-point halftime lead into a 71-point win against the Suns, who were led by ex-Hawk Campbell Brown.	Report
14	Essendon Bombers	MCG	Won 23.8 (146) - 12.9 (81)	Hawthorn beat Essendon by 65 points; the goal-scoring shared amongst 11 different Hawks after the mid-week suspension of Lance Franklin and the injury-forced absence of Jarryd Roughead.	Report
15	Collingwood Magpies	MCG	Lost 15.16 (106) - 9.11 (65)	Hawthorn produced its worst performance of the season, goalless in the first quarter and losing by 41 points against the defending premier Collingwood.	Report
16	Brisbane Lions	Aurora Stadium	Won 16.9 (105) - 9.9 (63)	Hawthorn beat Brisbane Lions by 42 points.	Report
17	Bye
18	Melbourne Demons	MCG	Won 12.6 (78) - 20.12 (132)	Cyril Rioli and Lance Franklin kicked eight goals between them as Hawthorn defeated Melbourne.	Report
19	Fremantle Dockers	Patersons Stadium	Won 6.8 (44) - 13.17 (95)	Hawthorn kept Fremantle goalless in the first quarter and eventually set up a 51-point win. Lance Franklin was held goalless for the first time since Round 2, 2010.	Report
20	North Melbourne Kangaroos	Aurora Stadium	Won 15.13 (103) - 13.8 (86)	Hawthorn was challenged by the Kangaroos in wet weather. Two late goals from Lance Franklin sealed the win.	Report
21	Port Adelaide Power	MCG	Won 31.11 (197) - 5.2 (32)	Hawthorn defeated Port Adelaide by 165 points, the greatest winning margin in Hawthorn's history and the greatest losing margin in Port Adelaide's. Lance Franklin kicked eight goals and Cyril Rioli kicked six.	Report
22	Carlton Blues	Etihad Stadium	Won 8.18 (66) - 10.18 (78)	Hawthorn all but confirmed a top four spot with a 12-point win over a fast finishing Carlton side, which trailed by as much as 45 points in the second quarter.	Report
23	Western Bulldogs	MCG	Won 16.17 (113) - 10.7 (67)	Lance Franklin kicked five goals as Hawthorn defeated the Western Bulldogs by 46 points.	Report
24	Gold Coast Suns	Carrara Stadium	Won 14.13 (97) - 16.10 (106)	Hawthorn rested Franklin and Hodge for this dead rubber against the Suns, which led Hawthorn for small parts of the game before the Hawks went on to record a small nine-point victory. Luke Breust kicked five goals.	Report

Finals series

Round	Opposition team	Venue	Result	Game summary
2nd Qualifying Final	Geelong Cats	MCG	Lost 14.14 (98) - 9.13 (67)	After a dominant first quarter by Hawthorn, Geelong came back to win by 31 points.
2nd Semi-Final	Sydney Swans	MCG	Won 19.8 (122) – 13.8 (86)	Hawthorn ended Sydney's season with a dominant first half in which it led the Swans by 40 points.
1st Preliminary Final	Collingwood Magpies	MCG	Lost 10.8 (68) - 9.11 (65)	Hawthorn's season ended with a narrow preliminary final loss against Collingwood by three points. The Hawks had led Collingwood for most of the game before a lacklustre final quarter saw them lose a thrilling match.

Ladder

2011 AFL Ladder
	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Collingwood	22	20	2	0	2592	1546	167.66	80
2	Geelong (P)	22	19	3	0	2548	1619	157.38	76
3	Hawthorn	22	18	4	0	2355	1634	144.12	72
4	West Coast	22	17	5	0	2235	1715	130.32	68
5	Carlton	22	14	7	1	2225	1700	130.88	58
6	St Kilda	22	12	9	1	1891	1677	112.76	50
7	Sydney	22	12	9	1	1897	1735	109.34	50
8	Essendon	22	11	10	1	2217	2217	100.00	46
9	North Melbourne	22	10	12	0	2106	2082	101.15	40
10	Western Bulldogs	22	9	13	0	2060	2155	95.59	36
11	Fremantle	22	9	13	0	1791	2155	83.11	36
12	Richmond	22	8	13	1	2069	2396	86.35	34
13	Melbourne	22	8	13	1	1974	2315	85.27	34
14	Adelaide	22	7	15	0	1742	2193	79.43	28
15	Brisbane Lions	22	4	18	0	1814	2240	80.98	16
16	Port Adelaide	22	3	19	0	1718	2663	64.51	12
17	Gold Coast	22	3	19	0	1534	2726	56.27	12
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points for, PA = Points against

References

1. "2011 NAB Cup Fixture". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
2. "2011 AFL Fixture" (PDF). Australian Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2010.

External links

• Official website of the Hawthorn Football Club
• Official website of the Australian Football League