SAM Mitchell won a possession roughly every three minutes of Hawthorn's thumping 65-point win over Collingwood at the MCG yesterday, but it was one of the simplest of those 39 touches, early in the third quarter, which spoke loudest, not so much of his own performance, but his team's.

The Hawks had already taken a grip on the game with the first two goals of the second half extending their lead to 33 points. Now they were about to metaphorically sink the slipper.

At the centre bounce, ruckman Simon Taylor tapped the ball straight into Mitchell's lap. The Hawthorn skipper slammed it straight on to his boot, straight down the middle of the ground, and straight on to Lance Franklin's lead. Buddy promptly drilled the shot at goal straight through.

A matter of seconds start to finish. Simple, stunning in its efficiency, and oh so swift. That was the machine-like precision with which the Hawks disposed of a side popularly fancied to, if not end their unbeaten run, at least give them a decent run for their money.

But frankly, Collingwood never really looked like doing so. The Magpies never led after the 16-minute mark of the first quarter, had not the same desperate hunger as their opponent, nor the same ball-winning capacity or run, and most obviously, not anywhere near the forward firepower that netted the Hawks 24.10 (154), equalling their highest score of the season, of which three gun forwards in Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Mark Williams booted 17 between them.

It was such a complete performance the once potentially devastating loss of vice-captain Luke Hodge with a hamstring injury barely a minute into the second half caused barely a ripple. Why would it? As good as the classy midfielder is, the Hawks still had Brad Sewell, Shane Crawford, Jordan Lewis and Ben McGlynn all making big contributions in the engine room. And, of course, Mitchell.

They don't call him the extractor for nothing. It wasn't just his tick under 40 possessions, there were no fewer than 11 clearances to go with them, no less than 20 handball receives, three tackles and five inside 50s. With Hawthorn rucks Taylor and Robert Campbell towelling up opponents Josh Fraser and Cameron Wood, it made for complete centre-square dominance.

How desperately Collingwood could have done with some similar steel. And how helpless it looked whenever skipper Scott Burns had to have an inevitable spell on the interchange. The only time in the second half the Magpies looked even a ghost of a chance was after that aforementioned Franklin goal, when the Pie captain was in desperation thrown once more into the centre-square fray.

It was a Burns centre-bounce clearance which set up a goal for Tarkyn Lockyer. Minutes later, it was his handball which created another for Leon Davis. Collingwood had crept back within 26 points. But Burns couldn't keep going on his own. A couple of minutes after that, he ran off again around the same time Franklin extended the gap to more than five goals. And from then on, it started to get ugly.

A 10-goals-to-three final term was only what the Hawks' diligence all over the field deserved.

Six goals to Roughead and Franklin, five to Williams. Tremendous defensive performances from Trent Croad on Travis Cloke and Campbell Brown on Paul Medhurst. And so on, and so on. Once again, Hawthorn's rolling defensive zone worked a treat, Collingwood restricted to just 38 entries inside its forward 50 when the Pies' recent figure had been closer to 60

But the signs had been good right from the start, only inaccuracy preventing the Hawks opening up a handy lead within the first five minutes. Roughead marked and missed within 45 seconds of the start, Cyril Rioli put one out-on-the-full, and Franklin missed on his wrong foot.

Sure enough it was Collingwood which ended up breaking the ice, a nice snap from Irishman Marty Clarke following a Shane O'Bree handball.

The Hawks' answer was pretty emphatic, a long bomb from late inclusion Stuart Dew from outside 50 metres. Then Davis had his turn in the spectacular goal stakes, a curling left-foot snap.

But the far more mundane lead and mark from Roughead which followed was more ominous. He had a little too much space on Shane Wakelin for the Magpies' comfort, and his goal sparked a run of five unanswered from the Hawks, another regulation effort from Williams, a beautiful shot on the run from Hodge and a free kick from Rioli after he had nailed Scott Pendlebury.

Franklin was goalless to half-time, but it seemed to matter not, Hodge, Williams and Roughead all booting their second for a 21-point lead at the long break.

Hawthorn was already in gear by then. What came next was turbo-charged. And though it is just seven rounds into the season, it's already pertinent to start asking the question, who, aside from Geelong, has anywhere near an engine slick enough to keep up with this exciting and precocious unit.

HAWTHORN 5.4 8.6 14.9 24.10 (154)
COLLINGWOOD  2.0 5.3 10.8 13.11 (89)
GOALS Hawthorn: Franklin 6, Roughead 6, Williams 5, Hodge 2, Campbell, Dew, Ladson, Rioli, Young. Collingwood: Lockyer 4, Davis 2, Clarke, Johnson, Maxwell, Medhurst, O'Bree, H Shaw, Swan.
BEST Hawthorn: Roughead, Mitchell, Franklin, Sewell, Birchall, Croad, Williams, Campbell, Crawford. Collingwood: Lockyer, H Shaw, Pendlebury, Burns.
INJURIES Hawthorn: Bateman (hand) replaced in the selected side by Dew, Hodge (hamstring). Collingwood: Rocca (ankle) replaced in the selected side by Cook.
UMPIRES Donlon, McBurney, Ryan.
CROWD 76,048 at MCG.

TALKING POINT
THE Hawks have won seven games straight now, been only mildly threatened, and eased their way past Collingwood yesterday. But how will they go against Geelong? Due to some strange and unfortunate fixturing, we don't know that answer for more than two-and-a-half months, when the leading teams meet on the MCG in a Friday night round-17 clash.

THE UPSHOT
HAWTHORN is not a one-man forward line and won't be considered one for a very, very, very long time. Jarryd Roughead kicked six goals yesterday, as did Buddy Franklin after an inaccurate start, and Mark Williams chipped in with five, making sure the game was about goals, not zones.

HOT AND COLD
THE three goal-kickers aside, Brent Guerra barely wasted a kick yesterday (save for one mucked-up kick-in), and is becoming more and more important to his third team. Cold? Dale Thomas had 15 possessions yesterday, but is not playing with the flair and polished finishing of his earlier days.