Essendon Vs Hawthorn, 39-point comeback, 40 points, Ben Rutten, Alastair Clarkson, Tom Mitchell | Alds

In a weekend that has already seen two other bottom four teams from last year in the Swans and Crows pull off major upsets, the Hawks never gave up despite a horror first half.

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At halftime, the AFL was already wondering where the Hawks would put their wooden spoon after an uninspiring first half that saw the sides go to the break with the Bombers leading 10.6 (66) to the Hawks’ 4.3 (27), with the lead as bad as 40-points in the second quarter.

But in an incredible turnaround, the Hawks erased the deficit in the third quarter as the teams battled for the victory down the stretch with Hawthorn hanging on for a 14.8 (92) to 13.13 (91) win.

Tom Mitchell was the best on ground with 39 disposals for the Hawks, including 17 in the third quarter when he got his side back into the contest.

But the game went right down to the wire with Devon Smith booting the Bombers ahead with two minutes left, before Tim O’Brien’s mark and snap stole the result for Hawthorn in brilliant start to the year.

It was the Hawks fourth biggest ever comeback and the biggest since round 12 of the 1999 season.

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said his halftime message was simple after his side struggled to get the ball forward in the first half.

“It was just ‘get our hands on the footy’ really,” he said post-game. “Essendon to their absolute credit were dominating possession of the footy and control of the ball in the first half. We were able to turn it around in the second half, it’s nearly as simple as that, to the credit of O’Meara and Mitchell, Shiels, our rucks in (Jon) Ceglar and [Ben] McEvoy.”

Incredibly, the sides each had an eight goal to one quarter with the Essendon unloading in the second quarter before Hawthorn responded in the third.

It would have been hard to swallow for AFL coaching debutant Ben Rutten with the loss the biggest halftime lead a debutant coach had given up.

Bombers coach Rutten was pleased with the first half but was frustrated as the Hawks bounced back.

“Certainly a game of two halves, that’s for sure. I think the pleasing thing from our point of view and why our players are so disappointed is because we showed some really good footy in that first half,” Rutten said.

“I think our work rate (really dropped off). We tried to be a bit cute, too precise, shallow entries and then Hawthorn were able to rebound the whole length of the ground a number of times, which is a good contrast to that second quarter.”

Fans on both sides couldn’t believe what they’d just witnessed.

Both sides face tough second round matches as well with Essendon playing Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday and the Hawks hosting the defending premier Richmond Tigers at the MCG on Sunday.