Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says his club was on a mission in Saturday's clash against Melbourne, but it had nothing to do with comments from Chris Dawes that the reigning premiers were "gettable".

The Hawks were ruthless in finishing off the Demons at the MCG, winning by 105 points to set up a blockbuster at the same venue against the Sydney Swans next Saturday night.

Underlining their determination, key forward Jarryd Roughead was used as a spare defender in the dying minutes after Melbourne kicked consecutive goals to pull the margin back from a game-high 117 points.

Clarkson said he hadn't mentioned Dawes's comments to his players pre-game and it wasn't an issue for them, but there had been plenty at stake after an inconsistent start to the season.

"We were on a little bit of a mission today, we were really poor last week and wanted to atone for a disappointing loss," the coach said.

"Our spirit and endeavour from quarter-to-quarter was much better … and if we can do that then we give ourselves a chance against any side in the competition.

"If we serve up inconsistency like we did from contest-to-contest last week against GWS, then sometimes we'll win and sometimes we'll lose and we're not a sometimes footy club."

Not satisfied with an 86-point margin at the final change, Clarkson said he stressed to his players the importance of finishing strongly and the Hawks piled on another six goals to three.

"Sometimes games can fizz out late in the contest when the scoreboard margin is that great that one of the sides can't get back into the game, so we were really pleased we were able to run out the game," he said. "We take some confidence out of today's game, because our consistency of effort was there. "We out-tackled Melbourne today (74-63) despite having scoreboard control and that's a really good sign."

The Hawks will be boosted next week by the return of Jordan Lewis, who has served a two-match suspension, and Isaac Smith, who was withdrawn late on Saturday with gastro.

Clarkson said ruckman Ben McEvoy was unlikely to be available after suffering a minor hamstring injury at training on Friday, while defender Brian Lake (knee) would need to prove his fitness this week.

After strong performances from young midfielders Billy Hartung (26 possessions and a goal) and Will Langford (26 and two), Clarkson said the club was seeing players step up in the absence of suspended leaders Luke Hodge and Lewis.

"Hartung and Langford were much better this week, which was pleasing for us," he said.

"Squads win premierships, we've always said that at our club, and the depth at our club is really important to us.

"When those guys get opportunities like they have over the last few weeks, we like to think they can come in and play an important role for us."