Hawthorn has altered the shape of the Round 19 ladder one last time, squeezing into seventh position after putting aside a disappointing Fremantle outfit at Optus Stadium by 59 points.
Tom Mitchell further consolidated his position as the hot favourite for Brownlow Medal, ending his afternoon with 42 disposals and two goals, while Luke Breust starred up forward with four straight goals.
While the Hawks weren't starved of options in their attacking end, with 11 of their 22 contributing with at least one major in their impressive showing, the same couldn't be said for the Dockers, who failed to register a multiple goalkicker.
Despite pulling together three last-ditch majors in the final quarter, Ross Lyon's men were exceptionally poor on their home deck, conceding nine second half goals and losing the inside 50 count by 18.
Five opening quarter goals from the Hawks was indicative of their superiority throughout most of the afternoon, while for Fremantle, their three-goal effort stood head and shoulders above their other three terms.
The visitors got off to a flyer, slotting two goals in the first two minutes courtesy of Paul
Puopolo and Ryan Schoenmakers, and looked like running away from the Dockers until ruckman
Sean Darby capitalised from 15m out.
Despite responding with a further two goals from youngsters Bailey Banfield and Ed Langdon, Fremantle’s inability to win at the clearance, plus their inferiority in the contested possession count, ensured that they were always behind the eight ball.
Yet, despite winning the inside 50 count 18-10 for the quarter and kicking the next two goals,
Hawthorn were unable to fully capitalise on their dominance, and in spite of Brennan Cox missing two very gettable chances, led by 11 points at the first break thanks to a pair of goals from Luke Breust.
The Hawks began the second term in the same manner as they ended the first, dominating the
contest without fruition, until Liam Shiels and Teia Miles each converted from 40m out, blowing the lead out to 23 points.
After mercurial forward Luke Breust converted his third goal for the game in the 12th minute of the term, Hawthorn once again looked like running away with the match, dominating every statistical aspect of the match.
But in the same vein as the first term, the Hawks created multiple scoring opportunities yet
failed to take advantage of them again, as they scored four successive behinds for the rest of the
quarter, missing the chance to put the game to bed inside the first half and leading by 31 points at the main break.
More disappointing however was Fremantle's quarter, with the Purple Army barely registering so much as a whimper as they put through just the two points for the term.
Down by five goals and having not kicked a major since halfway through the first quarter,
Fremantle were already facing an uphill battle heading into the second half, made tougher by he returning Shaun Burgoyne , who opened his account for the evening with a classy snap.
It was the first of six third quarter goals from the rampaging Hawks, with Breust’s fourth goal inflicting further pain on the home side.
With the Hawks having kicked seven goals in a row in the match, the game followed suit as the
scoring reached a bit of a plateau, with Hawthorn once again dominating the clearances and inside 50s but failing to score.
Despite veteran David Mundy finally breaking the drought , the Hawks piled on a further three goals, including a brilliant goal from Brownlow favourite Tom Mitchell, adding a goal to his 29 disposals at three-quarter time.
With Mitchell's major leading the Hawks to a 60-point margin, it was simply a matter of playing for percentage heading into the final quarter.
But while Tom Mitchell looked like turning the thumping into a massacre with his second goal in the first few minutes of the quarter, it ended up being the only Hawthorn goal for 20 minutes, before the visitors stacked on another ---- as the game drew to a close.
As the Dockers desperately tried to penetrate the scoreboard, it would be take 14 minutes before Andrew Brayshaw and Darcy Tucker booted two goals in as many minutes to peg back the margin.
With Jaeger O'Meara and Schoenmakers restoring their initial advantage shortly afterwards, the Hawks finished the game as 59-point victors thanks to one last-gasp major from Luke Ryan, moving into seventh position on the ladder with a healthy percentage of 122.7.
Hawthorn's season will nevertheless be on the line when they battle the equally prospective Essendon next Saturday at the MCG, while Fremantle will be up against West Coast next Sunday at Optus Stadium, with both sides seeking a speedy rebound after an embarrassing weekend.
FREMANTLE 3.3 3.5 4.8 7.11 (53)
HAWTHORN 5.2 8.6 14.8 17.10 (112)
GOALS
Fremantle: Mundy, Banfield, Brayshaw, Darcy, Langdon, Ryan, Tucker
Hawthorn: Breust 4, Schoenmakers 2, Gunston 2, Mitchell 2, Roughead, Burgoyne, Hardwick, Miles, O'Meara, Puopolo, Shiels
BEST
Fremantle: Neale, Mundy, Brayshaw, Langdon, Banfield
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Breust, O'Meara, Shiels, Henderson, Burgoyne
INJURIES
Fremantle: Sutcliffe (hamstring)
Hawthorn: Nil
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