HE HARDLY seemed to raise a sweat. But whenever Lance Franklin raised his long arms yesterday, the ball came to them. Six of his nine shots on goal he converted.

The only common ground between the audacious Hawthorn star and Melbourne in their opening-round appearances was that both began the new season looking as though they were destined for a repeat of the last.

But while first-up form suggested that the Dees, in their 150th celebration year, are headed for even worse times than in 2007, Franklin, in only his fourth season, could be on the up.

As has been well chronicled already, he comes from a high base. Having contributed 10 goals for the Hawks in his first two finals last September, Franklin, in the Hawks' 2008 season opener yesterday, booted as many majors as his club's opponent managed collectively.

He scored every which way — lead out, grab, goal. Pack mark, set shot, goal. Deft gather, snap shot, goal.

In the third term, Franklin had only just run onto the ground after a short breather on the bench when he was picked out — opponentless — and drilled a major from outside the 50-metre arc off three steps.

There was more consistency in his celebrations, and in a short career, the 21-year-old has already displayed quite a repertoire. Yesterday, they were mostly one-arm salutes, with the odd waving of fingers to the crowd.

For Demon defender Nathan Carroll, who made a habit of finding trouble in the off-season, trouble in the form of a rival footballer was the assignment bestowed upon him in round one.

Franklin was but one of many headaches presented to Melbourne coach Dean Bailey on the day of his senior coaching debut. Daniel Bell was given the job temporarily, but after doing no better than Carroll he was discharged. On more than one occasion, Bell was almost attached to his taller opponent but still couldn't manage to deny him the ball.

Twenty-three minutes into the final term, Franklin was called to the bench. The Hawthorn faithful clapped and whistled in appreciation of his hard day's work. Franklin, though, was jogging casually, looking as if he was only warming up.

HAWTHORN 5.5 7.10 15.12 23.16 (154)
MELBOURNE 1.1 1.5 2.10 6.14 (50)
GOALS: Hawthorn: Franklin 6, Osborne 3, Roughead 3, Dew 2, Boyle 2, Stokes 2, Campbell 2, Young, Taylor, Rioli.
Melbourne: Robertson 3, Green 2, Newton.
BEST: Hawthorn: Franklin, Bateman, Osborne, Mitchell, Dew, Birchall, Boyle, Rioli, Young. Melbourne: Jones, Buckley, Green, Robertson.
UMPIRES Farmer, Kennedy, M Nicholls.
CROWD 40,141 at the MCG.
FAIR RESULT? WELL, duh. The only people arguing this result was unfair would be those in red and blue hoping for at least one win. To them, it's all deeply unfair.
With a depleted side, Hawthorn had no right to expect to win by 100 points and, in fact, could be fearing dropping early games with those out suspended or injured. Yesterday, the Hawks not only dodged a bullet but appeared undeterred by absences.
TALKING POINT? HOW bad is Melbourne? Was this an aberration or are the Demons really going to be this bad all year? They looked slow, hesitant and at a loss for direction. They are short in defence and limited forward.
HOT AND COLD? BUDDY. They love Buddy at Hawthorn and this was why. He was a complete forward yesterday, admittedly beating up a lesser opponent, but he led and marked, he crunched packs, he crumbed, he gathered his own ball, he marked one-out one-on-one. And he kicked as many himself as Melbourne did.