Hawthorn beat St Kilda by 52 points on Thursday night, but the moment that drew the loudest reaction came after the second-quarter siren, when Nick Watson ran in for a set shot that the stadium thought had brought up Hawthorn's ninth consecutive goal to open the match.
The goal did not stand. Umpires overturned it after ruling Watson had run off his line, turning what looked like another clean strike into the night’s most disputed call in round 12 of the 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
Sam Mitchell said after the match Hawthorn would go to the AFL and ask about the decision. He said there was “absolutely no reason” for a right footer to go wider to give themselves an advantage, and that the vision did not look as if Watson had drifted far off his line.
Mitchell added that there was “no common sense” in a player moving toward the boundary and having it called play on. He said he hoped the AFL would answer and rectify the issue, and said the league had generally been good when something did not make sense and needed adjusting.
“So, why would he run wider to give himself a harder shot and it get called play on. Didn't make a lot of sense, I'm glad it was in a game where individual tiny scores didn't matter, but I hope that's something they rectify,” Mitchell said.
The Hawthorn coach's frustration was made sharper by the fact that the Hawks never looked in danger after that point. Jack Gunston was benched for the duration of the final quarter for preservation, and Mitchell also said Conor Nash, who was withdrawn before the game with a neck concern after a spasm during the week, should be available for next week's fixture against the Western Bulldogs.
The disputed call was only part of a one-sided night. Hawthorn's pressure and accuracy left St Kilda chasing early, and the 52-point margin underlined how far the game had moved by half-time. Mitchell's side had already built a commanding lead before the siren, even as the siren-period goal that would have stretched the run was wiped from the record.
Ross Lyon said St Kilda's opening half was a team-wide failure, and he did not spare the coaching box either. “This, just to be clear, this was a lack of team performance and coaching performances, so we're all in on it,” Lyon said. He added that the Saints had failed to kick a goal in the opening half and said Hawthorn's intercept work forced them into a style they did not want, with the ball going too quick and too often long down the line.
The tension in the Watson decision sits in the interpretation of the rule itself: umpires judged that he had run off his line before the kick, yet Mitchell argued the footage did not show enough deviation to justify the outcome. Hawthorn will now seek an explanation from the league, and Mitchell made clear he expects one. For a match finished long before the final siren in practical terms, the next argument is likely to linger much longer.
