by Nicholas Duck
Consider that an opportunity lost.
Sloppy kicking came back to haunt Drouin on Saturday against Maffra, as the Hawks were left to wonder what might have been against another team outside the top five with a 36-point defeat.
The Hawks' endeavour couldn't be questioned in the 8.6 (54) to 13.12 (90) loss - they tackled and pressured all day across the wide expanses of the Trafalgar Recreation Reserve.
Their kicking? Different story. Drouin were untidy with ball in hand, either missing teammates and putting the ball to grass or just giving it straight back to Maffra in dangerous positions.
It led to the Eagles getting on what would prove to be a game winning seven-goal streak across the second and third quarters to put themselves in a strong position on the scoreboard.
Kye and Aden Quirk were again prolific for the Hawks, putting their heads over the ball alongside Caleb Quirk to be their side's standouts.
Will Brewer thrived in a newfound role down back, where he played a big part in keeping dangerous Eagles goalkicker Caleb Calwyn quiet.
New recruit Denver Lund impressed in the ruck and around the ground to give his teammates a safe option down the line, and Max Williames again had plenty of intercepts across half back.
For Maffra, the return of hometown hero Coby Burgiel – who spent two years on West Coast's list – paid dividends, as the speedster racked up plenty of the ball to hurt the Hawks on numerous occasions.
Jett Killoran played a strong game as did veteran Daniel Bedggood in a variety of roles around the ground, Max Stobie's run and gun cut the Hawks to ribbons at times and experienced duo Danny Butcher and Alex Carr provided quality leadership.
With a biting breeze favouring the highway end of the ground, neither team were particularly tidy with ball in hand. The difference in the day was ultimately Maffra's ability to recover from their turnovers as compared to Drouin's inability.
Despite the cold, the Hawks looked red hot early, clearly coming into the day seeing this as a gettable game after three dismal matches against the league's best.
Zach McMillan roved a pack to snap Drouin's first just minutes into the contest and, with the wind at their backs, Caleb Quirk doubled that advantage following a 50-metre penalty for some post-free kick roughhousing.
Noah Christy walked in a response for the Eagles but just as quickly the Hawks regained control through a set shot from Kaden Gregg and a long-range beauty on the run courtesy of Kye Quirk.
Maffra were able to stabilise and ended the quarter on their terms, two goals from some sloppy Drouin play setting the tone for what was to follow.
Put simply, the Hawks could hardly get past halfway for most of the second term and, while the Eagles failed to maximise their opportunities in part due to some desperate defence, the longer it went the more there was a sense the dam wall was showing some cracks.
Max Stobie slotted what might have been the goal of the day late in the half. After getting on a Hawks kick across the middle that floated just a bit too much, he gathered at ground level, handballed and received from a teammate on the paint of 50 and produced a classy finish on the run.
Trailing by 18 points at half time, the Hawks needed a good start to the third term and didn't get it when an attempted bounce failed to come back, instead slipping to an Eagles forward and ending with Butcher waltzing into an open goal.
With the game slipping away and the margin at 29 points, Drouin injected some life into the day through goals to Cody Fleming and Seb Amoroso.
And when some overlap out of the centre ended with Ben Brasier booting one on the run not even a minute into the last, the margin was suddenly at a gettable 10 points.
The comeback was shortlived, however, the Hawks again unable to keep their hands on the footy and paying the price. A brilliant mark in the pack from Bedggood at point blank put Maffra back on track and they went on with it from there, putting the game beyond doubt. Some late Hawks' efforts kept the margin from blowing out like in past losses, but it was too late for any kind of real challenge.
Drouin coach Leigh Horsburgh was pleased with his side's effort but lamented their turnovers.
"Result-wise it's disappointing, we wanted to win that game of footy pretty badly and we prepared as well as we could," he said.
"When we missed targets, it was really to the detriment of us. We turned it over and we got a score against or they got into a dangerous position, whereas when they missed their targets, it probably didn't hurt them as much."
Despite the defeat, Horsburgh said his team showed signs they were "headed in the right direction".
"There are plenty of positives to take out of it as a group considering the last three to four weeks of footy...Maffra aren't a bottom side in my opinion, they've taken some good scalps."