Hawthorn have survived a huge scare against Adelaide to secure their twelfth-consecutive victory in Tasmania, while snapping a run of three winless matches.
But they had to seriously work for it after Adelaide made the early running on a cold Thursday night at UTAS Stadium.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Nick Watson undergoes HIA after collision
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The Hawks managed to climb ahead in the second quarter before the Crows charged again in the last, ultimately falling short 10.15 (75) to 9.12 (66).
It was a bruising encounter, with the Crows losing star Izak Rankine with a calf issue, while the Hawks had a huge scare when gun forward Nick Watson was almost wiped out in the first half.
Fortunately for ‘the Wizard’, the incident happened late in the second quarter, and most of the minutes he lost while going through a head injury assessment (HIA) were soaked up in the long break.
Asked about the collision (where he bravely went back with the flight of the ball) after the game, Watson said “I just had to go for it”.
“(Coach Sam Mitchell) is really big on being tough, and I just had to put my head over it, and luckily I got back on my feet,” Watson told 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary.
Cleary: “So the doc came out to you. You got to stay out for a couple more minutes. Then what happened?”
Watson: “I had to go get tested, which I was filthy with, because I was feeling it a bit, so I got angry at him, but it was in the moment.”
When Watson says “feeling it”, he is obviously referring to his own form on the ground, not the actual hit.
He had five touches and booted two goals in the second term, and finished the game with 12 disposals.
Watson’s good mate Blake Hardwick was the unlikely hero for the Hawks, booting four goals in a rare forward role.
The victory came two days after the club was told by the AFL their association with the island state would finish at the end of 2027 ahead of the Tasmania Devils’ entry into the competition.
The pain was compounded for the Crows, who lost gun midfielder Rankine to a calf problem early in the third quarter.
Down 63-43 heading into the final quarter, Adelaide rocketed back into the contest with back-to-back majors to Darcy Fogarty and Jake Soligo in a matter of minutes.
When Callum Ah Chee booted truly it appeared a Crows comeback would be completed, but the Hawks held strong despite kicking just one final-quarter goal courtesy of Hardwick after a strong pack mark with a few minutes to spare.
Adelaide opened the scoring at UTAS Stadium after just 16 seconds when Ah Chee streaked away for a goal and got out to an early 25-8 advantage as Jordan Dawson and Rankine ran riot.
Hardwick picked up two first-quarter majors to keep his side in the hunt and just 12 points behind at quarter time.
The Crows threatened to pull away when big man Lachlan McAndrew snapped successfully early in the second, but Hawthorn came to life with a run of five goals leading into halftime.
Watson nailed two of those before being taken from the field for assessment after copping two head knocks.
He was cleared and returned for the second half with his side opening the stanza with a 47-34 advantage.
Hawthorn kicked the first two after halftime in a run of seven majors before Adelaide’s Zac Taylor snapped on the run in the dying stages of the third.
Dawson was among the Hawks’ best with 28 disposals, four clearances and one goal, while the Crows’ Wayne Milera was the game-high possession-getter with 32.
— With AAP
