Williams Gladdens Hawks

The Age

Saturday February 9, 2008

Nick Sheridan

MARK WILLIAMS' ability to run out a full game was one of the highlights of yesterday's Hawthorn intraclub match at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, coach Alastair Clarkson said.

Clarkson said Williams, who was playing for the first time since succumbing to a knee injury in round four last year, had been a welcome return.

"It was good that Mark was able to have a really good hitout today," Clarkson said.

"You know he was a player sorely missed by us last year and he just gives us a different sort of dimension down there (in the forward line), he's obviously very, very elusive."

Williams started the game slowly but began to fire late in the second quarter, gathering some effective possessions and kicking a goal.

"He's put in a really good block of training over the course of the last eight to 12 weeks and he's really excited about what the season's going to unfold for him," the coach said of his club's leading goalkicker for 2005 and 2006.

Other returns from injury were Tim Clarke, who missed most of last season with a torn Achilles tendon, and Danny Jacobs, who played nine games last year before injuring his hip. Both players got a lot of game time and appeared to be free of their injuries.

Tim Boyle made an impact on the game, kicking five goals in the first half, and rookie Cameron Stokes showed his ability in attack with three majors late in the game.

Lance Franklin had a hot and cold day, finding plenty of the ball but finishing with 3.5.

There were solid performances from a host of the usual suspects, including captain Sam Mitchell and Chance Bateman, but there was also plenty of promise shown by some of the new faces, particularly first-round draft pick Cyril Rioli, who kicked two goals, and second-year ruck prospect Brent Renouf, who was good in the hitouts and covered the ground well.

Beau Muston also carried the ball well and Xavier Ellis found some good chances to show his skills in the midfield and defence.

Clarkson also was pleased with the progress of Port Adelaide premiership player Stuart Dew, who spent most of the game on the ground across half-back and seems to be ready for the home-and-away season.

"We'd expect that come round one, he's going to really add to our depth and provide some tremendous experience," he said.

One casualty was developing ruckman Luke McEntee, who hurt his hamstring in the first quarter. "That was unfortunate (because) he's had a good training block, so it might set him back a week or two. We'll just have to wait and see what the medicos say," Clarkson said.

In contradiction to several other coaches, most notably Geelong's Mark Thompson, Clarkson voiced his support for the new interchange rule to be trialled in this year's NAB Cup, saying the pre-season competition was the right forum.

"The NAB Cup series is all about trialling different rule changes and seeing whether they've got any merit in terms of making our game a better spectacle and making it a better game to participate in," he said.

But Clarkson was less forthcoming on how he felt the change would affect the game. "It's too difficult to predict," he said.

© 2008 The Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home