Lance Franklin and Cyril Rioli combined for nine goals to guide Hawthorn to a convincing 50-point victory over West Coast in Sunday’s AFL clash at Patersons Stadium.
Hawthorn, coming off a six-day break and playing in 32 degree heat, looked vulnerable when West Coast closed the margin to 19 points at the final change.
But the Hawks flexed their muscle when it mattered most, slamming home eight goals to three in the last quarter to cruise to the 23.10 (148) to 15.8 (98) victory.
Franklin booted five goals and Rioli finished with four, while Luke Breust (four goals), Grant Birchall, Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell were also key contributors.
Hawthorn skipper Hodge, in his first match of the season, tallied 25 disposals in defence and played out the entire match.
The Eagles were well served by Josh Kennedy (five goals) and midfielders Chris Masten and Matt Priddis.
But with ruckman Nic Naitanui, forward Mark LeCras, Sharrod Wellingham and Matt Rosa still sidelined, the Eagles look a shadow of the team that started the season as genuine premiership fancies.
West Coast are now 0-2, but should notch their first win of the season next week when they take on struggling Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday.
The Eagles were shellshocked early as Hawthorn raced out to a 39-point lead in the second quarter.
Big guns Rioli, Franklin and Jarryd Roughead were all prominent in front of goal, but it was West Coast’s lack of pressure through the midfield that handed the ascendancy to the visitors.
It took until midway through the second quarter for West Coast to finally hit their straps, and they made the most of the momentum switch to slam on four unanswered goals within the space of five minutes.
Kennedy and Jack Darling were influential during the onslaught as Hawthorn’s lead was whittled down to 14 points, but late goals to Breust and Roughead eased the pressure on the visitors.
Hawthorn were back in the box seat after kicking the opening two goals of the third quarter.
But once again West Coast fought back, closing to 19 points at the final change.
Hawthorn coughed up a 30-point lead in their loss to Geelong on Monday, but they dug deep to ensure history wouldn’t repeat.
West Coast should have finished the stronger in the final term given they had 15 days to prepare for the match, but it was Hawthorn who powered home to notch their first win of the year.
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