HAWTHORN has launched itself into the top echelon of the AFL with an ahead-of-schedule premiership win over Geelong at the MCG yesterday, but coach Alastair Clarkson believes the Hawks are still not the benchmark of the competition.

Clarkson, who acknowledged that his club had expected to take longer to hoist the cup on grand final day, said he believed Geelong still held the mantle, despite the Cats fluffing their lines on the big stage yesterday, losing by 26 points after surrendering only one previous match in the season.

It was a performance from the defending premier that drew a rebuke from coach Mark Thompson for selfishness.

Hawthorn appears headed for one of its finest eras, but Clarkson was quick to shift the pressure to Geelong, refusing to accept that his team was the new kingpin.

"I suppose the whole competition will look at it that way because they always judge on the premier side, as we have for the last five or six years," he said.

"We've actually tracked Geelong, St Kilda and Port Adelaide really closely as teams that have put their list together in the right type of manner and been very, very well coached, and (two of those teams) … have gone on to salute.

"Geelong's one of those sides, ironically. I would still expect Geelong to continue to be a dominant side next year.

"We got the victory today, but it could have easily been a different result. I wouldn't suggest for one minute that that elevates us above Geelong.

"We still respect them enormously. They're a more experienced group than us. We've still got to chase them a little bit in terms of improving our performance in the years ahead."

Hawthorn's 10th premiership comes in the fourth year of Clarkson's reign and the corresponding rebuild of its list. Clarkson said the Hawks' analysis of recent premiership teams had suggested it would take "five, six, seven or eight years" to win a flag.

Thus Hawthorn's only focus in the pre-season of 2008 was to ensure it did not fall away after reaching — and winning — a final last year.

"So many sides have jumped up to play in a final series, then fallen away the following year," he said.

"That could quite possibly have been the case with such a young group. But such was the resolve with this particular group, their fanaticism to actually improve as people and players, that drove the whole group forward again this year.

"We got ourselves in a position where we won the first nine games of the season and I suppose that was the realisation that, 'Gee, we could finish top-four here and really give it a good nudge' if we could get some momentum going in September."

Thompson was critical of Geelong's inability to score, and made pointed remarks about selfishness. He told his players they had missed a great opportunity.

"Like all of us, they really expected to win, and maybe that second quarter (they thought) it didn't matter that we didn't handball off and ran into goals and kicked points because eventually we'd get the team that we were playing," he said.

"That's just wrong. To win premierships, you need to do everything right, and Hawthorn was absolutely spectacular today."

Thompson said he did not believe his players had been cocky, but was unhappy with certain players' refusal to dish the ball off, apparently referring to one incident when Brad Ottens declined a handball to Tom Lonergan near goal in the third quarter.

"On the day, we just didn't work well enough together. I think that's been one of the special treats and habits of our players and our team, that we've been a good team," he said.

Hawthorn won without huge contributions from some of its best players, including captain Sam Mitchell and Lance Franklin. It was more of a team effort, although the likes of Luke Hodge, who won the Norm Smith Medal, Brad Sewell, Xavier Ellis and veteran Shane Crawford were superb.

Mitchell, who was covered by Cameron Ling, said some stern words from the coach at half-time had helped. "He (Clarkson) put a rocket up myself and 'Franko' and I thought our second halves were better, we played a role … and that's been our focus for the whole finals series. We don't need everyone giving best-on-ground performances," Mitchell said.

Crawford, 34, won the flag he has craved for nearly two decades. But he had not made any dramatic decisions last night; he was content to sing the song in the middle of the MCG with his teammates at 7.30pm, long after the crowd had gone.

"That's up to 'Crawf' and the club to work out in the next three or four weeks," Clarkson said.

"We're in no hurry to make that decision."