Hawthorn continued their winning streak against Collingwood on Friday night, defeating the Magpies 18.11 (119) to 12.12 (84) in front of 71,533 at the MCG.
The win was the club’s fifth in a row against the Pies, dating back to round one of 2012 and has all but assured last year’s finalist of the AFL’s top spot as the home and away season draws to a close.
Led by a return to form by Lance Franklin and gutsy efforts from Luke Hodge and Grant Birchall, Hawthorn regained its premiership form in the first three quarters before closing out a short lived Collingwood comeback in the final term.
Collingwood staged a comeback after trailing by 34-points at three-quarter time, coming within 24 points after kicking three straight to begin the fourth, but impressive goals to Bradley Hill and Jarryd Roughead sealed the result.
“It was a really tough contest, and it’s a nice reminder of what’s coming in a few weeks’ time,” coach Alastair Clarkson said post-match.
“Both sides were really hard at it, and we were pleased that we were able to stand up under the pressure.
“We need to play at that type of standard in finals footy, and we didn’t do that in the last two games of last year, so that’s a significant challenge for us.
Franklin returned from a week’s break to add 20 possessions to a four-goal haul, but his continued inability overhead should raise question marks about his overall health. Hodge added 28 disposals and eight marks while Birchall contributed 26 touches from the backline after seven-weeks out due to injury.
“The third quarter was the one that really told on us,” Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said of his side’s 0.3 quarter effort.
“The third quarter wasn’t played in the manner we were looking to play the game.
“We just allowed their defenders to drop off and have extra numbers in behind us.
“For the most part we weren’t far off.”
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