Well, no, they weren't that bad. No coward punches behind play to unsuspecting victims. But there was plenty of deliberate physical targeting which the umpires ignored. The one which annoyed me most was one of the brown and yellows cannoning into Max after he had marked in the last quarter. It was clearly late and the Hawk was clearly in it to hurt.
This sort of stuff will continue until the umpires impose a 50 metre penalty. Max clearly expected to be given the 50 which would have put him within scoring distance but the ump was too naive, or stupid, or uncaring to impose it.
The same goes with the regular in game targeting of Max. Notably Max was given a 50 metre penalty last week against the Dog which resulted in a goal. Until they umpire smarter this sniping will continue.
Meanwhile, beating the Hawks never gets old but I was impressed by how much noise their supporters made considering they were never in it. Welcome back Petty - such a smooth operator both ends - and welcome back Fritters' radar.