In Australian Football League (AFL) lore, few rivalries burn as consistently close and competitive as the one between Hawthorn and Geelong, even when both sides are navigating shifting fortunes on the league ladder. For the 2026 Easter Monday clash, that rivalry carried an extra edge of personal payback for the Hawks, who entered the MCG contest desperate to erase the bitter memory of a 2025 preliminary final exit at the hands of the Cats. What unfolded was a back-and-forth thriller that ended with a one-point Hawthorn victory sealed in the final seconds before the final siren, capping a stunning late comeback that delivered the club its first win over Geelong in two years. A year ago, Patrick Dangerfield’s Geelong side blew Hawthorn apart in the second half of the preliminary final, ending the Hawks’ 2025 premiership dream before they could even earn a spot in the league’s decider. That pain lingered in the Hawthorn locker room through the off-season, and head coach Sam Mitchell leaned into that unfinished business heading into the Easter Monday blockbuster, according to Hawks defender Jack Scrimshaw. “Mitchell touched on the occasion a fair bit, but the core of his message was all about what Geelong took from us last September,” Scrimshaw told reporters after the match. “They stole our chance to play in a grand final in that prelim, so we carried that extra hunger to go after them from the first bounce. We talked about it all through pre-game, it added another layer of motivation, and we were dead keen to get payback.” Scrimshaw added that the result marked a critical milestone for a Hawks squad that had dropped back-to-back matches to both Geelong and the Brisbane Lions in 2025. “Beating top-tier opposition like this is the next step for our group, and today we pulled off a really big scalp,” he said. The game looked headed for another Geelong win deep into the final quarter, when Cats forward Shannon Neale kicked a goal that put his side up by six points, with less than two minutes left on the clock. With the clock ticking down and their season still young, Hawthorn dug in, focusing first on winning individual matchups to turn the tide. Even Scrimshaw admitted he was bracing for another heartbreaking loss in the closing seconds. “Oh mate, I was worried to be honest, it really could have gone either way,” he said. “We just stuck to our process, every guy focused on getting their own job done, and in the end the boys pulled off something special.” It was veteran Hawks forward Jack Gunston who delivered the match-winning moment, pouncing on a loose ball and slotting a precision kick that nudged Hawthorn ahead by a single point just moments before the final siren sounded. Gunston’s red-hot early season form has been earning praise from both fans and teammates alike this year, and Scrimshaw said his experience and poise under pressure was the difference in the tense finale. “I’ve got no words for him, he’s unbelievable,” Scrimshaw said of the veteran. The result ends Hawthorn’s two-game losing streak against Geelong, and lives up to the long history of tight, hard-fought contests between the two powerhouse clubs. “There’s such a rich history between these two clubs, no matter where either of us sit on the ladder, these games always tend to be close,” Scrimshaw added. “It’s just so good to get one back over Geelong, we haven’t beaten them in so long, it feels great to finally get it done.”
AFL 2026: Jack Scrimshaw reveals the motivation behind Hawthorn’s Easter Monday heist
