Hawks off to good start in pursuit of top 4 finish

The Hawks, tipped to be a big improver after a strong off-season recruiting drive, showed why they are not to be taken lightly after opening their account with a 149-point win away to the Swans on Saturday.

The only blemish in the 32.16 (208) to 9.5 (59) triumph was a knee injury to skipper Tyler Harries, while new playing coach David Steer wasn’t risked because of a hamstring complaint.

Bell, who has returned to his original club from Tarrawingee, said the Hawks had high expectations.

“We are not putting any pressure on ourselves,” Bell said.

“We just want to take it one game at a time.

“The aim will be to finish top four.

“We are coming from a fair way back but we’ve picked up some good footballers.

“We’ll be all right if we play to our ability.”

The Hawks came out with all guns blazing, booting the first five goals of the match.

But it was the third term when they really turned it on, booting 9.4 to 4.0 to lead by a whopping 101 points at the last change.

Those to impress for the Hawks were forward Richard Findlay, midfielder Ben McDermott and Matt Smith at centre half-forward.

“We didn’t really expect to win by so much,” Bell said.

“Not in round 1.

“You just have to get your structures right.

“They’ve definitely picked up from last year.

“They are going to be a lot better and they’ve got a lot of good young blokes.”

North Wangaratta’s next match is at home to Bonnie Doon on April 14.

At Glenrowan, Tatong gave Andrew James the perfect start to his coaching career with a convincing 75-point win against the Kelly Tigers.

Nick Hill and Andrew Dodemaide booted five goals between them for the Magpies, who lost Luke Cunningham to broken ribs and Anthony Welsh to a corked hip.

“Can’t complain with a win first up,” James said.

“The second quarter we used our run and carry and that worked well.

“We probably wasted a lot of opportunities

“There’s always room for improvement.”