Hawthorn's Tassie déjà vu ahead of Adelaide Crows clash

In round three the Hawks outplayed an under-manned North Melbourne outfit to win by 19 points, a result that momentarily put to bed heavy criticism of the playing list.

However, following a second-half collapse on Easter Monday against Geelong and a heart-breaking two-point loss to GWS on Sunday, the Hawks will once again look for inspiration at their Tasmanian fortress.

The Anzac round clash is unlikely to hand out any favours for the AFL's cellar dwellers though, with visitors Adelaide Crows one of the most in-from teams in the league.

With a 6-5 record in Launceston under Sam Mitchell's tenure, the Hawks have not seen as much success as they are used to, with an overall record of 55 wins from 75 matches at UTAS Stadium.

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One stat Hawks supporters can take encouragement from is the Crows' paltry record in Northern Tasmania, having won just once from six attempts and conceding more than 100 points on four occasions.

There were many positive signs for the 1-4 Hawks in their Gather Round match at Norwood Oval, with James Worpel continuing his strong start to 2023 with 35 disposals and seven tackles. Jai Newcombe was equally impressive with 31 touches and a goal, while Fergus Greene continues to look threatening up front, booting three majors.

Chad Wingard is a definite out from the game, after the crafty veteran was sent to hospital with surgery on his tongue required.

Mitch Lewis' availability is a question mark, with his long recovery from an ACL injury almost completed.

If Hawthorn are a chance to grab what would be an unlikely victory at this stage, they will need to learn from the mistakes of Carlton, who were smashed at the coalface.

Adelaide won the contested possession count by 26 and the uncontested count by 59. The other area the Blues failed to cover was their South Australian opponents' efficiency going forward, resulting in 20 marks inside their forward-50.

The round six Sunday afternoon clash gets under way at 1.10pm.

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