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Where: Melbourne Cricket Ground
When: Friday August 29 – 10.50am (BST)
Watch live: Click here to watch online with AFL Global Pass!
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The Hawks need a win to lock in a top two finish, while Collingwood are at long odds to make the finals, but if they somehow manage to sneak a win then a finals berth is not out of the question.
A Magpies win and a Richmond loss to Sydney would see Nathan Buckley’s side reach the finals for the ninth consecutive year, but there’s no doubt this is a tough assignment.
The Hawks come off the back of a confidence-boosting win over the Cats and don’t look like a side that will lose to a team outside the top eight at this stage.
Collingwood have been ravaged by injury with Cloke, Beams, Reid, Swan, Macaffer, Brown, Toovey, Young and Adams all out. Scott Pendlebury and Jamie Elliot will have to undergo late fitness tests to feature in the do-or-die clash at the MCG.
Hawthorn will see this match as the perfect tune-up for the AFL finals, and it’s very hard to see the Magpies getting a win here.
Match facts:
1. Hawthorn has now won the past six clashes against the Magpies and seven of the past nine matches between the sides.
2. Hawthorn uses handball more than any other side in the competition. The Hawks average 171.1 handballs per game, compared with the Magpies’ 150.3 per game (ranked 14th).
3. Hawthorn averages only 61.2 tackles a game, the fewest in the League, while Collingwood tackles the second most with an average of 71.8.
4. If Collingwood doesn’t convert its opportunities, it could be in for a long night. The Hawks are the most accurate team in front of goal in the competition (56.8 per cent). The Magpies are 15th in the competition (46.8 per cent).
5. Hawk forwards Luke Breust, Jarryd Roughead and Cyril Rioli combined for nine goals when Hawthorn defeated Collingwood by 29 points earlier this season.
6. Jarryd Blair was Collingwood’s top scoring player in Official AFL Player Ratings last round. Hawks midfielder Jordan Lewis is eighth in the competition for average points in the past month.
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