An unanswered seven-goal blitz in the third quarter has helped Hawthorn to a 63-point win over the Western Bulldogs, pulling themselves back up into the top-eight for the time being.
The Bulldogs led by two points at half-time, but registered just the one point in the third term before clawing back two majors in the final term to save some face.
Luke Breust kicked six goals as the Hawks put together a very even team performance, in what was mostly a very fast, lively game.
The frenetic pace was set instantly, as Breust kicked the first goal of the game, a simple set shot from 20 metres.
The Bulldogs got on the board shortly afterwards when Josh Schache marked a wayward set shot on the goal line, and snapped accurately.
Josh Dunkley kept Tom Mitchell under wraps, but Hawthorn were dominant through the midfield, in large thanks to their two ruckmen in Ben McEvoy and Jonathon Ceglar.
The Bulldogs’ defence were stout, led by Jackson Trengove and Dale Morris, but when Ed Richards miscued a kick out of defence, Harry Morrison capitalised with Hawthorn’s second.
The intent of the Bulldogs to run the ball was obvious, in particular Jason Johannisen (32 disposals) and second-gamer Brad Lynch (23).
Both helped their side to the next three goals of the match, which were scored by Lachie Hunter, Mitch Wallis and Billy Gowers as they brought the challenge right up to the visitors.
The Hawks were right on the back foot, but Luke Breust completely took over for the rest of the quarter, first using his body well to mark and kick his second goal, before feeding a sharp handball out of a pack to Jaeger O’Meara.
As quarter-time neared, the star Hawk laid two outstanding tackles, both resulting in free kicks and goals, finishing the quarter with four goals against his name, giving Hawthorn an 11-point lead at the first change.
The game had its first lull to start the second quarter, with both teams unwilling to take many risks initially.
Eventually the game broke open, and where the first quarter was owned by Luke Breust, the second belonged to Johannisen.
Hawthorn opted to play a loose man in defence, and so Johannisen was in turn left to run rampant for the Dogs.
His teammates looked for him at every possible opportunity, and he found space, and used his blistering speed, while also using the ball brilliantly.
The Bulldogs took the ball forward brilliantly from one end to the other, and Shane Biggs eventually kicked the goal, after nearly making a horrible mess of things in the goal square.
Breust responded with his fifth, from a speculative free kick, but the Bulldogs kicked the next two, as again Hunter and Wallis pushed forward for goals, which gave them a two-point lead at the major change.
The Bulldogs were everywhere, and Alastair Clarkson responded with a very defensive press, letting the Bulldogs possess the ball in defence.
There was no such lull to begin the third quarter, as Hawthorn slammed on seven goals in a row. Jack Gunston and Jarryd Roughead were both outstanding in attack, and marked absolutely everything in sight as Hawthorn turned a tight game into a slaughter.
Gunston kicked three for the quarter, finding space and kicking well, and Roughead, who played further up the ground, contributed to plenty of attacks, as well as kicking two himself.
Not to be outdone, Luke Breust chipped in with his sixth, which equalled his career-high.
It all began in the midfield, where they had a plethora of contributors, including Daniel Howe, Liam Shiels, Isaac Smith and O’Meara, while Mitchell was also working his way into the match.
Howe was arguably the pick of the bunch, and nailed the seventh goal of Hawthorn’s surge from beyond 50 with a mighty shot.
Things were going wrong for the Bulldogs in the midfield, where premiership heroes Marcus Bontempelli, Caleb Daniel and Luke Dahlhaus were all sruggling to get their hands on the ball.
Johannisen, who had 25 blistering touches in the first half, had just seven disposals after half-time, when Hawthorn took away their loose man in defence and made him accountable.
The two-point half time deficit became a 43-point lead at three-quarter time, and just like that the contest was over.
A fabulous team goal finished off by Isaac Smith made it eight goals in a row to inflict even more pain on the Bulldogs.
The game finally slowed down as Hawthorn consolidated their lead, until eventually Jarryd Roughead kicked his third.
With 15 minutes gone in the final term the Bulldogs had registered just one behind since half time, before at last Daniel ran to 30 and kicked a goal.
Jarryd Roughead kicked his fourth, catching an overly ambitious Brad Lynch with another inside 50 tackle.
As Wallis snapped his third, Smith and Gunston capped off magnificent second halves with their second and fourth goals respectively.
The Hawks are back in eighth spot, where they will remain depending on Greater Western Sydney and North Melbourne’s performances tomorrow, while the Western Bulldogs have a tough run of likely finalists in the coming weeks, coming up against Melbourne, West Coast and Port Adelaide.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.1 7.4 7.5 9/5 (59)
HAWTHORN 6.0 7.2 14.6 19.8 (122)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Wallis 3, Hunter 2, Gowers, Schache, Biggs
Hawthorn: Breust 6, Gunston 4, Roughead 3, Smith, O’Meara, Morrison, Howe
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Johannisen, Adams, Morris, Lynch, McLean
Hawthorn: Breust, Roughead, Gunston, Howe, Shiels, Smith
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil
TALKING POINTS
1. A FITTING SEND OFF
Cyril Rioli stepped straight into an already star-studded forward line in 2008, playing every game, and winning a premiership.
Four more Grand Finals, a Norm Smith Medal and three more flags followed, in a career which may well be the most successful of any player this generation, in terms of win/loss percentage.
An absolute match-winner who was one of the most watchable players in the game, vision of his teammates reacting to his retirement made it obvious that this was an emotional week for Hawthorn.
Having owed so much of their success to him, Rioli was deserving of a big performance tonight.
Interestingly, when the Hawks farewelled Luke Hodge and the injured Josh Gibson in round 23 last year, it was also against the Dogs at Etihad, while they celebrated Bob Murphy and Matthew Boyd.
The Hawks came up trumps that night as well, and while not many can claim to have contributed as much to Hawthorn as Hodge, maybe Rioli is one who can.
2. HIS PROTÉGÉ
Well Luke Breust has been kicking goals for a long time, and may not be Cyril’s understudy as such, but it was a distinctly Rioli-like display that he put on.
Breust is now probably on his way to a third All Australian selection.
The 27-year-old kicked six goals, most of them in the first half when the game was at its hottest, and set up plenty more all night.
Almost more worth talking about than his six goals was his tackling pressure, with the star Hawk laying seven tackles, three of which won him free kicks.
Isaac Smith’s late goal was also the result of a deft knock on out of congestion – a signature Rioli move.
Paul Puopulo was very quiet, but while Hawthorn will feel Rioli’s loss, the small forward stocks are hardly bare.
3. GOOD SIGNS?
The Western Bulldogs’ last three weeks can be spun numerous ways, depending on perspective.
The positive is their competitiveness against North Melbourne, an excellent win against a preliminary finalist, and some of their play in the first half tonight was electrifying.
However, a different take could read a disappointing loss, a lucky win which required a bad miss after the siren, and an ugly fade out tonight.
The Bulldogs’ youth does look terrific, but it’s harder than ever to plan long-term, as increased player movement, change in game trends, and injuries mean that by the time this young team reaches their potential, the game may have moved past the current vision.
Long-term cellar dwellers Brisbane and Carlton are proof that being down the bottom, and blooding youngsters, doesn’t guarantee any improvement, and so the Bulldogs should be wary of using youth as an excuse for their poor finish to tonight’s game.
Their first half tonight was brilliant, but they proved to us two years ago that youth isn’t an excuse, and although they have a tough stretch of games coming up, they need to bounce back.
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