Hawthorn are looking for their second win in a row when they host Brisbane down in Launceston on Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks haven’t had the season they would have hoped for up until now but they have still been able to take two wins to this point, which is more than the Lions can say.
The Hawks belted West Coast by 50 points earlier in the year, and then held on for dear life last week against Melbourne to come out the victors by less than a goal.
At a 2-5 record and with some truly noncompetitive performances against good teams already on the ledger, the Hawks don’t look to be any risk of playing finals this year.
Brisbane aren’t really any better – they’ve got a 1-6 record after seven rounds and that single win came in Round 1, meaning they’ve lost six straight.
In particular the manner of their defeats has been disappointing lately – they at least kept it competitive earlier in the year, but they have been blow off the park by Port Adelaide and Sydney in recent weeks.
If there’s a time for this Lions team to show that they have pride in the jumper and can play at least halfway decent football, then it is more than overdue this week.
The Hawks have made two changes this week, recalling Jack Fitzpatrick and Ricky Henderson to replace Grant Birchall (knee) and James Sicily, who has been dropped.
The Lions have rested top draft pick Hugh McCluggage and lose Mitch Robinson and Daniel McStay to injury, so they’re bringing in Josh Walker, Tom Bell and Rohan Bewick.
The Hawks have won seven straight games against Brisbane and the last five of them all by 40+ points, and can be had at $1.57 to do that again this week.
However with the Hawks being a bit less dominant this year than they have been in the past, $2.80 by the 1-39 points margin is more attractive.