HAWTHORN got back on the winning list, if not quite back to top form, with a 57-point win over West Coast at the MCG last night. With their 12th win from 14 games, the Hawks became the second team, after premier Geelong, to virtually lock up a place in this year's finals series.

Apart from a brief recovery by West Coast in the third quarter, which at its high point narrowed the lead to 19 points, the result was fairly predictable. A game on which third was matched against 15th, with a cross-continent flight involved for the underdog ranker, was unexciting in prospect and largely lived down to expectations.

At least each side could claim to have atoned for poor performances last week, when Hawthorn lost to North Melbourne and West Coast capitulated to Geelong by a massive 135 points at home.

Hawthorn's twin power forwards — Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin — had a big influence. Roughead kicked six goals and Franklin five. The Eagles used Darren Glass on Franklin, but were scrambling for another defensive tall to counter Roughead. Beau Wilkes, Jaymie Graham and Brent Staker all had a turn, none of them effectively.

Daniel Kerr was brilliant for the Eagles, with 40 possessions. That was shaded statistically by Matt Priddis with 45, but Kerr was the man who kept West Coast competitive.

Ashley Hansen was handy at centre half-forward, with four goals, but neither the delivery to him nor his output could match what was happening at the other end of the ground.

The Hawks' midfield was not as prolific as the Eagles, but Grant Birchall, Sam Mitchell, Brent Guerra and Shane Crawford, who returned from injury, all had plenty of the ball.

Hawthorn led by 28 points at three-quarter-time after a spirited West Coast took the game up to its more fancied opponent after the long break. The Eagles kicked three goals to one in the third quarter — Hawthorn's early inaccuracy coming back as it converted only one goal from eight scoring shots — and could have been closer had a Staker shot not been touched right on the goal line.

The Hawks had Jordan Lewis on the bench with a leg injury and Luke Hodge also spent most of the quarter on the sidelines, only coming back onto the field with a couple of minutes to play.

Adding to the potential problems, Hawk big man Brent Renouf went into the book after appearing to catch Adam Selwood flush in the face with an elbow.

Hawthorn led by an even six goals at half-time. The Hawks kicked six goals straight in the second term, three each to Franklin and Roughead.

Franklin had had an interesting night to that stage. His first quarter yielded only three kicks and he twice gave away free kicks to Glass. He doubled his number of disposals by foot in the second term, but these three brought him three goals. He was also involved in a scrimmage near full-back for the Hawks, which should boost the AFL's melee fund by the time it is sorted out.

At that stage, 30 of the 36 players on the ground were pretty much inside West Coast's attacking 50. As the wrestling wrangled on, Hawthorn got the ball to Cyril Rioli, his long handball found Jarryd Morton and Morton's kick found Roughead one-out. He marked and kicked his third of the quarter and fourth of the half.

For most of the first half, the game had been crying out for such simplicity, but the cries mostly went unheeded. Nine of the first 10 scoring shots were behinds, and most of the shots were eminently gettable. Williams missed from 25 metres out on an angle, then Rick Ladson sprayed two more wide for Hawthorn before Roughead got the first goal.

Then Mitchell and Roughead missed.

West Coast was worse. Ben McKinley missed two set shots from close in and easy angles. Mark LeCras' shot was rushed through for a behind, but it was a pretty ordinary attempt from 40 metres.

Hawthorn closed out the first term with three more goals.


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, Osborne, Crawford, Williams, Birchall. West Coast: Hansen 4, McKinley 2, Cox,
Hunter, Staker.
BEST: Hawthorn: Roughead, Osborne, Mitchell, Crawford, Croad, Ladson. West Coast: Kerr, Cox, Priddis, Nicoski, Hanson, Lynch.
INJURIES: Hawthorn: Dew (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Clarke.
UMPIRES: Donlon, Farmer, Ryan.
CROWD: 29,138 at the MCG.