At the picturesque postage stamp that is Rathmines Road Reserve in leafy Hawthorn, Brunswick faced some nervous moments on Saturday before eventually overcoming the inaccurate Hawks, courtesy of a dominant third quarter, to keep their unbeaten run going in 2024.

The opening quarter was a slow burn at first, with the home side drawing first blood, before it morphed into a shoot-out, highlighted by three roving goals to the red-hot Gus Coverdale, with singles to goalsneak Ben Marchionna and wingman Tom Hedley. The Hawks kept on responding, with the last two majors of the term to lead 6.3 to 5.3 at the first change.

In the second term, Coverdale snapped his fourth early on, followed by a second crumbing goal to Marchionna, but an arm wrestle then ensued, with both sides missing opportunities in front of goal, while the NOBs were struggling to come to grips with the ground’s peculiar dimensions. In the shadows of half-time the Hawks scrambled a couple of majors and, for the first time this season, the NOBs trailed at the main break.

As good sides do, Brunswick came out firing in the premiership quarter, booting the first three of the term and looking like they would run away with the game, before the Hawks hit back with a double-goal, which served as a wake-up call for the NOBs as they slammed on another three majors to go to the final change with a crucial 17-point advantage.

The last term was a microcosm of the overall contest, with the NOBs kicking the opening two goals to get out to a match-winning 27-point lead, while the Hawks fought it out, but let themselves down with inaccuracy, adding 1.6 for the quarter.

Coverdale ended up with six goals in another brilliant display, while Lewis White was a welcome addition after missing the previous week with his strong hands and clever reading of the play, topped off by a goal floating forward. Captain Consistent in Ben Wilson again controlled the middle of the ground, alongside strong four-quarter performer in Josh Hedley. After a quiet first half, Rowan Hogenbirk was instrumental in the dominant third term, ending up with two goals, and in his first game in two years the classy Kristian Ciciulla was very good.

For the second week in-a-row, Brunswick were pushed hard by the opposition, but they again had the answers. Another stern test awaits in South Melbourne Districts back at Gillon Oval this Saturday. See you there!