Hawks do enough against Eagles

An unimpressive Hawthorn continued West Coast's sorry run when it defeated the Eagles by 57 points in a lacklustre affair at the MCG on Friday night.

A week after premiership rival Geelong destroyed the Eagles, the Hawks won 18.18 (126) to 9.15 (69) but had tremendous difficulty shaking off a dogged West Coast, whose application was commendable after a woeful first quarter.

After leading by 28 points at quarter time, the Hawks did not put the Eagles away until the final term when it booted seven goals to West Coast's two.

Not for the first time this year it was twin towers Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin who punished the opposition, the pair combining for 11 goals.

Roughead, in particular, could be pleased with his game. Dangerous in the air and also composed at ground level for a man of his size, Roughead finished the night with six goals and set up several others.

Darren Glass was game against Franklin, who became more influential as the game wore on, but could not deal with the barrage of traffic which came his way.

The break could not have come at a better time for the Hawks, who will spend their week off nursing injuries to some key midfielders.

Jordan Lewis spent the best part of three quarters on the bench with a corked thigh while Luke Hodge and Shane Crawford were also hampered by leg injuries during the game.

Of similar concern to Alastair Clarkson and his brains trust will be the Hawks' unconvincing form in the past five rounds.

The Hawks again played like a middle-of-the-road side rather than one which has punters labelling them as Geelong's biggest danger to back-to-back flags.

Their appetite for the contest at times appeared dulled by their glut of wins this year and they made errors more synonymous with a battling team than one near the top of the ladder.

On one occasion Robert Campbell handballed around the corner to an oncoming Franklin even though the Hawk forward was well covered by Matt Priddis.

It was not until the last quarter that Hawthorn, lifted by the return of Hodge, played with the sort of aggression and fluency its fans had been anticipating.

But the Eagles were so inept in the first quarter that it hardly mattered. It was a term youngster Beau Wilkes would rather forget.

He chose to spoil when well positioned to mark, the crumb resulting in a Hawthorn goal, then gifted another major when under little pressure he pinpointed Michael Osborne.

To their credit, the Eagles hung on resolutely in the next two quarters, due mainly to stellar performances from Dean Cox, Daniel Kerr and Ashley Hansen - who played a lone hand in attack.

Cox dominated in the ruck and Kerr found the ball 40 times, seemingly at will, while Hansen enjoyed his 21cm height advantage over Campbell Brown to grab 10 marks and boot four goals.

Priddis finished the game with a massive 45-possession haul but sadly for the Eagles they were largely meaningless.

HAWTHORN: 4.8, 10.8, 11.15, 18.18 (126)
WEST COAST: 0.4, 4.8, 7.11, 9.15 (69)

GOALS: Hawthorn: Roughead 6, Franklin 5, Hodge 3, Birchall, Crawford, Osborne, Williams
West Coast: Hansen 4, McKinley 2, Cox, Hunter, Staker
BEST: Hawthorn: Roughead, Croad, Crawford, Osborne, Franklin, Hodge
West Coast: Kerr, Hansen, Cox, Priddis
INJURIES: Hawthorn: Lewis (corked thigh), Crawford (knee), Hodge (calf)
West Coast: Nil
REPORTS: Renouf (Hawthorn) by