Aug 16, 2026 · 35 min · 9 segments
In this episode of the Bench, Tim and Liam break down Hawthorn’s Round 1 defeat against Melbourne to kick off the 2026 AFLW season. In a game which ebbed and flowed, the Hawks were jumped early before…
The Melbourne Demons came out of the blocks like a steam train, kicking five goals in the first quarter to the Hawks two, to go in with a 17-point lead at the first break.
Thankfully, the Hawks started to make a bit of a charge in the second term, where we kicked three goals to the D's one, to narrow the gap to seven points.
The third quarter was a seesawing affair that saw Hawthorn kick the only goal for the term to go into the three-quarter time break level with the D's at 41 apiece.
Unfortunately, the last quarter did not go our way, with our attack breaking down at times and the D's transition from defense causing headaches, and seeing us go down by 19 points in our Round 1 clash.
Liam, you were there at the game.
Obviously, 19 points, uh, bit, a bit devastating to see the team lose the first round but, you know, that first quarter, watching the D's, you thought, "Oh my goodness, it, it could be anything," and the fightback from the girls was absolutely fantastic.
Uh, yeah, agree with all those, those points you've just made, and I think s- some more of that will get unpacked throughout this.
But it was...
I think it was a typical case of you get jumped, you do-- you fight like hell to get back in it, and then you run out of gas at the end, and they-- That's probably how that game went out.
But, um, yeah, that Melbourne side are really good, and if we play like we did, especially in, you know, those second and third quarters, and parts of the last, um, we will beat a lot of teams playing like that.
They just look ridiculous.
But yeah, it's a...
It was...
Uh, uh, look, there's a couple of really good one-sentence summaries that we'll get to towards the end of this episode, but it was a really interesting game of footy.
It was not...
It was good to be there.
Really good standard of football as well.
I think that's one for the competition naysayers to watch and perhaps reflect.
Absolutely.
And you think, as I said, both teams top four aspirants.
And we knew that our start to the season was going to be very, very difficult.
We know that our fixture this year is a very, very tricky one.
But, you know, you look at that Melbourne team, and certainly some world beaters that they have in that, that side that they've got.
The Melbourne Demons came out of the blocks like a steam train, kicking five goals in the first quarter to the Hawks two, to go in with a 17-point lead at the first break.
Thankfully, the Hawks started to make a bit of a charge in the second term, where we kicked three goals to the D's one, to narrow the gap to seven points.
The third quarter was a seesawing affair that saw Hawthorn kick the only goal for the term to go into the three-quarter time break level with the D's at 41 apiece.
Unfortunately, the last quarter did not go our way, with our attack breaking down at times and the D's transition from defense causing headaches, and seeing us go down by 19 points in our Round 1 clash.
Liam, you were there at the game.
Obviously, 19 points, uh, bit, a bit devastating to see the team lose the first round but, you know, that first quarter, watching the D's, you thought, "Oh my goodness, it, it could be anything," and the fightback from the girls was absolutely fantastic.
Uh, yeah, agree with all those, those points you've just made, and I think s- some more of that will get unpacked throughout this.
But it was...
I think it was a typical case of you get jumped, you do-- you fight like hell to get back in it, and then you run out of gas at the end, and they-- That's probably how that game went out.
But, um, yeah, that Melbourne side are really good, and if we play like we did, especially in, you know, those second and third quarters, and parts of the last, um, we will beat a lot of teams playing like that.
They just look ridiculous.
But yeah, it's a...
It was...
Uh, uh, look, there's a couple of really good one-sentence summaries that we'll get to towards the end of this episode, but it was a really interesting game of footy.
It was not...
It was good to be there.
Really good standard of football as well.
I think that's one for the competition naysayers to watch and perhaps reflect.
Absolutely.
And you think, as I said, both teams top four aspirants.
And we knew that our start to the season was going to be very, very difficult.
We know that our fixture this year is a very, very tricky one.
But, you know, you look at that Melbourne team, and certainly some world beaters that they have in that, that side that they've got.
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