The Harden Hawks have flown the nest and are swooping hard on the George Tooke Shield competition in 2026. With plenty of improvement yet to be made, the Hawks are planning to be out and about ahead of a big year.
Round 2 saw the first-grade win of 38-0 against the Snowy River Bears, while the Ladies
League Tag Side finished up on top with 48-0. After accounting for Googong’s 50-6 in Round 1, Georgia Smith bagged four in the first match, before the Hawkettes went on to add another large scoreline in the second match with 48-0 where Georgia bagged another three and Emma James kicked seven beauties.
Last week’s match saw the Hawks put 50 on the Googong Goannas, with the South Canberra club just able to post six points. This means Harden is sitting at 88-6 this season. There is a general bye due to ANZAC Day where on return, Harden will frostily welcome old foes, The Bungendore Tigers, at McLean Oval on May 2.
The lads secured the strong win with six individual try scorers with Father Time being wound back for Nathan Schofield who bagged a double. Jacob Lucas landed five conversions to make it a Hawk’s wash.
Coach Nick Hall has been around long enough not to get too excited, but says he is just looking for good numbers at training and consistency to be at the forefront of this year’s success.
“It’s early days, I guess slowing down is what we’re doing, like worrying about simple things, getting to training, actions, being fitter,” he says.
“We have started off doing okay, and it’s just on the strength of having simple things in our side and having some good systems that we’ve had for a few years. But our footy has definitely got to improve because the other sides, I think, have made some improvements.”
Other sides, such as North Canberra, Crookwell, Bungendore and Boorowa have seen new faces enter this year, which Nick says could see an increase in improvement across the board.
“[We] probably haven’t had as good an off season as we would have liked, but you can’t always… We’ve had a lot of hard years and maybe the boys have taken their foot off a bit, but I’d like to see improvement,” he says.
“I think where everyone can see a trajectory with because [of] how we played the first two games.
“Defensively we’re pretty tough and sound, attacking wise, we were a little bit short. We’re not clicking, made some mistakes, probably just over trying in some areas. That will come with combinations in the next month or so.
“I’m not a worried coach, but I’d like more. That’s what all coaches want, right?”
The Hawks, he says, pride themselves on defence and have welcomed back big hitters and no nonsense forwards such as Big Bad Bustling Tyson Astill. Astill was coming off the bench as a very capable teenager back in the late 2000s and played in the 2009 Grand Final win over Bungendore. He has been joined by Matt Holmes who only knows one way…… Straight!
“It was almost a shutout last week,” says Nick.
“We were a bit disappointed with that try. We thought we were better. We still allowed the field position, which we don’t want. I think those tries are a result of mistakes that allow field positions.
“We’re not the finished product and it’s good… So that’s we are at.”
Other former Hawks to return to Harden include Nathan Schofield who played Fullback against Bungendore in the 2009 winning Grand Final. There has been talk of the evergreen Daniel Drew, but the very elusive player on the field has also proven to be elusive on the training paddock thus far. If the Hawks jag him, it could really open their attack up as he too, is a stalwart…
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