Hawthorn’s Strategy to Contain Nick Daicos
Sam Mitchell, the coach of Hawthorn, has hinted that the team has several strategies in place to limit the impact of Collingwood’s star player, Nick Daicos. The Hawks are currently one of the most formidable teams in the competition, but they still need to manage Daicos effectively if they want to secure their seventh consecutive win.
Mitchell acknowledged that while Finn Maginness managed to neutralize Daicos in 2023, the team will require more than just one plan this time around. “That’s a good question, have you got any ideas? No? Me neither,” Mitchell said with a laugh.
“We’ve got a couple of things up our sleeve that we’ll use, you’ll find out on Thursday night, hopefully we can stop him. Finn obviously did one really good job a couple of years ago and that’s something we know we’ve got in our kit bag. But just because it worked once, it doesn’t mean it works again.”
Daicos, who has been a standout player since his debut, has continued to improve each year. “Nick, even though he was a star from the first game he played, he’s improved his game year-on-year. He’s better now than what he was this time last year, so how we stop him is a big challenge.”
Mitchell also emphasized the importance of having multiple plans for Daicos. “If we stop him, what does it open up for them is something we need to weigh up because he’s obviously a potent player wherever he plays and we certainly need to have plan A, B and C for Nick Daicos.”
Improvements in Managing Momentum
Hawthorn recently overcame a strong challenge from the Gold Coast Suns in Tasmania, securing an important victory. Mitchell noted that the team has shown significant improvement in handling momentum shifts since their preliminary final exit last year.
“One of the areas we needed to work on was managing momentum and with that comes a little bit of maturity,” he said. “When I looked at our game last week, it felt like a bit more of a mature performance. It wasn’t just run and gun at all costs and it wasn’t slow it down at all costs.”
The Hawks were able to pick and choose when to defend and when to attack, which gave them better opportunities to control the flow of the game. “We picked and chose how to defend and how to attack different moments in the game and we felt like that gave us better opportunities to control momentum.”
However, Mitchell admitted that the team didn’t get everything right. “We didn’t get it all right – we gave away some easy goals at different stages – but the thinking behind it I felt was a much more mature version of what we want to be.”
He added that the maturity displayed by the team is essential for success in high-stakes games. “If you look at premiership sides historically, there’s a level of maturity across their team. Hopefully we play with a young, vibrant energy that people want to come and see and they’re still going to do their celebrations. But underlying it is a level of maturity that is needed to win big games.”
