Ben Jankovski reflects on the narrow loss to the Hawthorn on Sunday.

The game started off very quickly. The intensity was as high as anything as I felt both teams really wanted to get the win.

Hawthorn midfielder Jaylan Brown was very dominant early, putting pressure on defenders our Brett and Arnie. However, our forward Riley got us up and about late in the first quarter with some quick goals to bring the score close.

The first half of the second quarter we rushed the ball too much and stayed away from the short game, instead sending long balls to the forwards, inevitably missing targets. We managed to correct our mistakes from the first half of the second quarter and bring the Hawk's lead back to single digits.

I managed to provide Riley with a nice goal with a clever tap with what looked like the ball was going out of bounds, and shortly after managed to score a nice goal myself.

The third quarter started off quite as similar as the first two. It was our poor ball use and decision making that left the Hawks to collect the footy and allow Jaylan an easy goal out the back.

Riley was killing it in the second half, and all signs pointed towards us making a comeback, however Hawthorn were always able to respond and were just too strong for us on the day.

Having not played in three months and having just one training session to prepare for the game, it was quite difficult for us to be at our very best against the Hawks. We felt that the effort was there from the team, but it was just our skills that let us down in the end.

I was still very proud of our efforts in securing our spot in the grand final. It just means that we have some things to work on to ensure that we give ourselves the best chance at playing our best.  

Final Score: Collingwood 12.4.76 defeated by Hawthorn 13.5.83

Goals: Riley Fitzgerald 11, Ben Jankovski 1

Check out some of Ben's highlights from the match