Round 17 Match Preview: Hawks Take On Roos

The fifth-placed Hawks make the short drive to Arden Street on Sunday morning, squaring off against the in-form sixth-placed North Melbourne.

Fresh off back-to-back wins and with just five games left in a rollicking, absorbing and high quality home and away season, Box Hill will be keen to maintain that winning feeling during the run in to September.

Who: North Melbourne
Where: Arden Street
When: Sunday 16 July
First bounce: 12:05pm

A Little Bit of History

Box Hill’s history with North Melbourne’s VFL outfit is a relatively shallow one, with the Kangaroos having instituted their own reserves program prior to the 2018 season.

Between then and now the two sides have met on four occasions, splitting those match-ups two and two.

The first meeting of the Kangaroos and Hawks in state league action saw the blue and white comfortable victors to the tune of 36-points out at Chirnside Park. In the the second, a year later, the Kangaroos rallied from 31-points down at the last change to rattle home two-point winners.

Box Hill would take a measure of revenge in round five of the stop-start 2021 season, defeating the visiting North Melbourne by 108-points at City Oval.

50-points up and cruising at three quarter time, the Hawks piled on 10 unanswered goals in an outrageous final term. This include five goals in eight frantic minutes, and another four from the 25 minute mark on.

Josh Morris recorded a career-best five goals, while Jack Saunders and Emerson Jeka jagged three apiece.

Daniel Howe, now playing for North Melbourne of course, lead all comers with 37 disposals and two goals, while Brayden Kilpatrick had 34 and a goal of his own. 

The sides last met in round 11 of 2022, with Box Hill again running out comfortable winners.

On a cold and rain-sodden day at Arden Street, the Hawks allowed their hosts just four goals for the day – two in either half – and won every quarter on their way to a 71-point win. 

Fergus Greene and Ben Cavarra tallied four goals each – although ‘Cav’ would no doubt be frustrated at his return of 3.4 –  while Finn Maginness, James Worpel and Damian Mascitti were Box Hill’s chief ball-winners.

Maginness finished with 35, Worpel with 31 (including 13 clearances) and Mascitti with 30.

2023 So Far

Box Hill’s win in Sydney’s West moved the side to 10-and-three on the season… but saw the Hawks drop a spot on the ladder! Sometimes there’s no justice.

Still, having lost to the Gold Coast three weeks ago, back-to-back wins ensured the brown and gold remain in the mix for the double chance.

Zane Littlejohn’s men sit a game back from third placed Werribee and equal on points with fourth placed Casey, with the Hawks having a game in hand on the latter.

North Melbourne started the 2023 campaign L-W-L-W-L-W and were four-and-four following their round nine loss to Casey.

Since then they’ve rattled off six wins in succession, accounting for Collingwood, Essendon, the GIANTS, Coburg, Williamstown and, most recently, Geelong down at GMHBA Stadium.

Leading by 11-points at the long break and just three come three-quarter-time, the Roos piled on seven goals to one in a sensational final term to run out 43-point winners. 

Tyler Sellers and Robert Hansen Jr each kicked four goals for the day.

The win propelled North to sixth spot on the ladder, equal on points with Box Hill but having played one more game. The result leaves them two-and-a-half wins inside the competition’s top 10, bearing in mind the four teams who occupy seventh to 10th come season’s end will compete for two ‘wild card’ positions. 

Selection News

Box Hill have made a handful of changes to the side which beat the GIANTS last Saturday, with the final composition of the 23 for Sunday’s match-up with the Roos a slight mystery owing to the Hawks battle with North Melbourne at AFL level later in the day.

What we do know right now is that five players have come in and five have gone out.

Into the side are Changkuoth Jiath, Harry Morrison, Josh Morris, Clay Tucker and Jaylon Thorpe.

Out of the team go Max Ramsden, Max Hall, Damian Mascitti, Jack O’Sullivan and Tristan Waack.

This may change before Sunday’s bounce any 12:05. While understandable, it does make writing this section of the match preview a slight challenge. 

One to Watch

A little bit of a left field ‘One to Watch’ selection this week, we’re going to go with Damian Mascitti.

A superb, skilful, calm and creative player, ‘Damo’ will trade his footy boots for dress shoes and a whiteboard this weekend as he takes charge of the backs group on game day.

Our former captain and best and fairest winner has been doing more and more coaching over the past two seasons, showing via reviews and drills during the week that his aptitude and feel for the game extends far beyond the field.

On Sunday he will make use of a rare opportunity to spend match day in the coaches box.

How To Follow

Hawks fans can keep up-to-date with all the action via our official social media channels.

Curated match commentary will be provided on Twitter, while further coverage will be available across Instagram and Facebook.  

Where To Watch

All VFL matches can be streamed via the AFL app. Coverage of Sunday’s game starts at 12:00pm and can be found in the match hub or via this link.

Further, radio commentary can be found via our community radio partner, 3WBC 94.1FM.