Don’t blame Howe

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said Daniel Howe was “following instructions” when he made two crucial errors in yesterday’s five-point loss to Geelong and suggested that these blunders were merely “two of 100’’ that the Hawks made.

Clarkson said that Howe, who turned the ball over in what led to the last goal kicked by the Cats (to Jordan Clark), would be “feeling low”, but that the Hawks had to take chances to get themselves into the game, as they came from behind in the final quarter.

Howe subsequently made an error with a failed switch of play when Hawthorn were pressing for the match-winning goal, only to have the ball turned over.

“They were switch opportunities,” said Clarkson. “To give ourselves a chance to get back into the game, we had to take our chances.

“He didn’t execute as well as he’d like, but he was following instructions in terms of trying to generate some open space ... In endeavour to do that, he made two errors. But they were ... two errors of 100 that we made over the course of the day. Mistakes happen in games of footy. We’ll wrap our arms around him. He’ll feel pretty low and feel like he contributed to the loss. But as I said, there were probably 100 other incidents in the course of the game.”

Clarkson said the Hawks, who came from four goals behind at three quarter-time, had played with spirit, but that they had not executed in skills well enough to win.

“Our level of execution wasn’t quite where it needed to be tonight to be able to secure the win. Sometimes that’s an experience thing or a lack of composure, but it will come,” he said.

“I thought Geelong was the better side on the day to be fair. It was a spirited comeback, which we were proud of. We hung in there and gave ourselves a chance. We won a close one a couple of weeks ago [against Essendon], but we couldn’t quite get it tonight. Swings and roundabouts.”

Clarkson said there were “little wins” and reasons for optimism from the loss, such as the performances of Changkuoth Jiath off half-back, Jarman Impey and Jack Scrimshaw.

While Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell was tagged and shut down early by Mark O’Connor, Clarkson felt Mitchell, who finished with 24 disposals, had fought back well.

Hawk-turned-Cat Isaac Smith almost missed what ended as another Easter Monday classic meeting, Geelong coach Chris Scott revealed after his team’s narrow escape. “I don’t normally divulge these things, and I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for him, but he only just made it to the line,“Scott said. “He was ill in the last couple of days. That added to the pressure a bit for him. We had a few other issues as well, but we didn’t treat it like another game. We treated it like an Easter Monday.”

Smith had 15 touches – every one of them booed by Hawthorn fans and contributed to his new team’s win without starring. “He seemed like he handled it pretty well for me,” he said. “He’s a confident sort of guy. Our players supported him really well. He was never one that was going to be completely overawed.”

Scott admitted that the Cats were not at their best, but said he was pleased at how they hung in against the fast-finishing Hawthorn. “We’ve got some ideas and some reasons,” he said. “But sometimes really valid reasons sound like excuses and I’m not prepared to offer them.”

One, obviously, is diminished manpower, with at least half a dozen firstchoice players unavailable, including superstar Patrick Dangerfield, boom recruit Jeremy Cameron and the talented Sam Menegola. ‘‘The team we were looking at four or five weeks ago is different from the team we put out there last week and today. But the good teams find a way through,” Scott said.

He added that one good year did not guarantee another as the game was always evolving. “If you miss the paradigm shift, you can be left behind really, really quickly,” Scott said.