HAWTHORN has fired an ominous warning to the rest of the competition with an imposing 62-point victory over Geelong at the MCG on Easter Monday.

The Hawks set up with their win with a remarkable 13-goal-to-two run from the start of second quarter that turned a six-point quarter-time deficit into a 68-point lead at the one-minute mark of the final term.

The only thing that saved the Cats from a bigger hiding was the Hawks' sudden attack of goalkicking yips that saw them kick 1.8 in the final term, with most of their missed shots simple ones.

It was Hawthorn's biggest win over the Cats since round 14, 1990, and its fourth win from the past five clashes against its recent nemesis.

The Cats opened the game well enough, absorbing a ferocious start from the Hawks before getting the better of general play to kick four of the final five goals of the first term.

But from there the Hawks' dominance was scary.

Outmuscling Geelong around the stoppages and – after a sloppy first term by their standards – slicing the Cats' defence apart with their trademark clinical ball movement, the Hawks were unstoppable.

The Cats' tough start to the year could get even more difficult after Steve Johnson was reported for a second-quarter bump on Hawks star Sam Mitchell.

Johnson cannoned into Mitchell's back after the former Hawks skipper tapped a high-bouncing ball onto a teammate.

Mitchell took some time to get back up to his feet and Johnson was subsequently reported for rough conduct by emergency umpire Curtis Deboy.

The only sour note to the Hawks' day came when Liam Shiels was substituted out of the game early in the third quarter with an apparent quad injury.

Jordan Lewis was outstanding for Hawthorn with a game-high 35 possessions, Shaun Burgoyne oozed class across half-back as did Cyril Rioli up forward, while Josh Gibson, Brian Lake and former Demon James Frawley teamed up to ensure Cats key forwards Tom Hawkins and Mitch Clark barely had a sniff in the final three quarters.

Luke Breust kicked five goals for the victors, while Jarryd Roughead and Paul Puopolo kicked three each - the former setting the tone early in the match with his fierce tackling and the latter putting in an early entry for mark of the year with a third-term speccy over Jed Bews, Jared Rivers and Ben McEvoy.

Steven Motlop (32 possessions), Jimmy Bartel (28) and Steve Johnson (27) led the way for the Cats, while former Demon Clark finished with three goals in his club debut.

It had looked as though the teams were going to produce another Easter Monday classic after the first term.

The Hawks' pressure was ferocious from the opening bounce, with two of their first three goals coming directly from Roughead tackles on Cats defender Corey Enright.

However, Hawthorn's kicking efficiency was way down on its usual standards, allowing the Cats to control possession.

With Johnson, Motlop and Bartel prolific through the midfield, Geelong kicked four of the first term's final five goals to go into quarter-time six points up.

But the Hawks turned the game on its head from the start of the second quarter, kicking five straight goals to open up a 28-point lead by the 21-minute mark of the term.

The Cats did not score for the quarter until Josh Caddy goaled at the 24-minute mark – their only score for the term – and a late Ben McEvoy goal ensured the Hawks had extended their lead back out to 28 points by half-time.

The Hawks' second-term dominance was reflected in the kick (68-38), disposal (104-83) and inside 50 (21-7) counts.


HAWTHORN      3.3    9.7    16.13    17.21  (123)            
GEELONG          4.3     5.3      6.6     8.13  (61)           

GOALS
Hawthorn: Breust 5, Puopolo 3, Roughead 3, McEvoy 2, Mitchell, Rioli, Gunston, Anderson
Geelong: Clark 3, Hawkins 2, Motlop, Caddy, Bews

BEST
Hawthorn: Lewis, Mitchell, Burgoyne, Lake, Gibson, Puopolo, Ceglar, Breust
Geelong: Motlop, Bartel, Johnson

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Shiels (quad)
Geelong: Andrew Mackie (quad tightness) replaced in the selected side by Billie Smedts. Bartel (concussion)

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Jed Anderson replaced Liam Shiels in the third quarter
Geelong: Cory Gregson replaced Dawson Simpson in the third quarter

Reports: Steve Johnson (Geelong) for rough conduct on Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn) in the second quarter.

Umpires: Matt Stevic, Sam Hay, Troy Pannell

Official crowd: 73,584 at the MCG