1. Hawks hurt by Power surge
Hawthorn had strung a run of four wins in six matches together entering this clash and had shown in patches shades of the team opponents had come to fear and respect. That was shattered in the space of an hour on Thursday when it produced the lowest first-half score in the 93-year VFL/AFL history of the club. The once free-scoring Hawks went to quarter-time without scoring and remarkably entered the long break goalless at 0.3. The opening half highlighted everything which has slipped in the Hawks’ game. They were beaten in contested ball - nothing new. But Hawthorn sides of old knew how to win the ball back and relaunch off half-back. On Thursday night, Port was allowed to run the ball out of stoppages and across half-back at will. From there the hard-pressing Power simply pinned Alastair Clarkson’s men in one half of the ground; the Hawks' once famous rebound was missing.

Read: Match report Round 11

2. Dixon no longer a potential star, he’s there
Charlie Dixon has long been branded a potential star. But it’s time that tag was dropped and he was elevated into the star power forward category. Entering this match, Dixon ranked second in the AFL in contested marks, and fifth in marks inside 50. His performances against the Brisbane Lions and West Coast were awesome and he took it to another level again in the opening term against the Hawks with an extraordinary display. All eyes were on the big forward to see if last week’s ‘play on’ controversy against the Cats would distract him. He shrugged that off within minutes, when he marked and snapped brilliantly from the boundary. By quarter-time he’d produced one of the best single-quarter performances by a power forward this year, with two goals, four marks, two tackles and a goal assist.

3. Port has underachieved at 6-4
This subhead is intended as a compliment. The Power is a genuinely good side and Ken Hinkley must demand more of them heading into a month-long stretch of matches which offers them the chance to go to 10-4. Port has led or been within a goal of taking the lead in the final term of all 10 of its matches this season, but has come up short four times. Most critics have cut them some slack after the Power's defeats, preferring to highlight their improvement on 2016. But Hinkley’s side is playing as well as any in the League right now and it is time for them to take 2017 by the scruff of the neck. Port’s ferocity, method with ball in hand and relentless defensive work rate was awesome against the Hawks to half-time. The Power became the first team in more than seven years to hold a side goalless for a half of football.

4. Young Hawk continues to shine
Since his Rising Star nomination in Round 2, Ryan Burton has gone from strength to strength. The 20-year-old has become a vital cog in Hawthorn's 2017 backline and without his coolness under pressure and skilful decision making, some of Hawthorn's losing margins could have looked a whole lot uglier. Averaging 21 disposals a game this year, Burton collected a further 25 touches last night, however most impressive was his 509m in the AFL's sexy new-age statistic, metres gained. His 509 was 100m more than the next on ground (Jared Polec), and 179m more than the next Hawk (Ricky Henderson). 

5. Ebert is having the year of his life
Brad Ebert proudly walked onto the field with his four-week-old son Leo on Thursday night for game number 200 and then chalked up 21 first-half disposals as his side dispatched Hawthorn. It neatly summed up the 27-year-old’s year to date in an hour. Ebert had what he described as the ‘best day day ever’ when he and wife Bec welcomed Leo into the world last month. On the park he’s having the season of his life and he continued it with a near best-afield effort against Hawthorn. The hard-nosed midfielder is fifth in the competition in tackles per game, and averaging 27 disposals, four more than any previous season. He set the tone on Thursday with seven tackles and seven contested possessions to half-time.

Read: Clarkson sees slump as opportunity for the new wave of players