Hawthorn Coach Sam Mitchell says he felt immensely proud following his young side's impressive victory against the ladder leaders Collingwood.

In one of the biggest upsets of the season, the Hawks kicked the first five goals of the game and never relinquished the lead, asserting their dominance to stun the premiership favourites with a 32-point win at the MCG on Saturday. 

"I was really proud of the players, I thought they were fantastic," Mitchell said post-game.

"It was a big game with a lot of people were watching, against the top of the table team, and we just had so many key moments where our players stood up.

"I was so proud of the leadership from the players and everything that they did in so many of those moments."

Mitchell was quick to give high praise to Finn Maginness, who tagged Magpies star Nick Daicos, holding him to just five touches.

"Finn will leave no stone unturned in getting this job done, but unfortunately quite often this year we haven't allowed him to do his best job because of other problems in the game," Mitchell added.

"So today he got to do the job for the whole game, and we saw what he can do. Daicos is an absolute star, but I was really proud of Finn, he was so diligent in what he was wanting to do.

"I knew Finn had it in his kit bag, but we haven't allowed it, so it was good we got to see it today."

Captain James Sicily was another Hawk to piece together a mammoth performance, finishing with 37 touches and 19 marks, which the coach said lends further to his push for a potential first All Australian selection.

"He is phenomenal for us," Mitchell said.

"Sis just controlled the back half of the ground completely. His whole year has been like that, it's just more people saw it today.

"There are so many good key defenders in the competition, but the the thing that makes Sis the best of them in my view, is that he is a defensive juggernaut, but he's also an offensive threat."

Ned Reeves was another to have caught the attention of the coach after winning the ruck battle against Darcy Cameron 39-31.

"The last two times Ned has played against Cameron he has been beaten," Mitchell said. 

"Ned's dominance of the aerial play in the centre bounces gives us an enormous advantage. He took three marks today, which is a step forward for him... he gave us stoppage control for a lot of the game."

Hear more from Mitchell following the win below.