With speculation rife surrounding Hale’s future, the 201 centimeter tall forward put on a clinic in the second preliminary final and set up a Grand Final rematch against the Northern Bullants at Etihad Stadium next weekend.
While his kicking in front of goal was the highlight, he was also dominant around the ground and effective in the ruck.
“We played well…we were a bit scrappy early but we got control of the game and you know, our pressure and tackling was good and we forced them to sort of go short and to the side so, yeah…it was a good game,” Hale told the ABC’s Phil Cleary after the match.
“The boys moved the ball well today and we had a few forwards who found some space and kicked some goals so it was good.
“Hopefully we can get one more win and get three (premierships) in a row.”
The Rooster’s buried the Hawks by 61 points with Corey Jones (26 disposals, 12 marks, 1 goal, 4 behinds) prolific around the ground. He ran hard to find the football in what’s likely to be his second last match at VFL level. The only thing letting the outgoing veteran down was his accuracy in front of goal.
Marcus White (20 disposals, 5 marks, 1 behind) also worked hard throughout the afternoon while Brayden Norris was relatively quiet but showed good signs at times.
Luke Delaney displayed his vast improvement this year in the back line and Josh Smith also caused headaches for his opponent.
Forced to watch on because of the rib injury he sustained in the round 22 match with North Melbourne at the MCG, Leigh Harding declared his intention to play on Sunday with the Roosters.
“I’m a certain starter. I’m fully recovered and ready to go next week,” Harding said.
Now, the only thing left for North Ballarat coach Gerard Fitzgerald to do is find a spot for Harding in the side.
Nth Ballarat: 16.18.114
Box Hill: 6.17.53
