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HAWTHORN has wrapped up the minor premiership for the first time in 23 years with a 25-point win over West Coast at the MCG on Friday night.

The Eagles needed a victory to earn themselves a top-four finish and a double chance in the finals, but a big push in the final quarter came too late to trouble the Hawks, who ran out 14.11 (95) to 10.10 (70) winners.

The win was Hawthorn's 17th of the season, and is the club's first minor premiership since 1989.

Injuries to Hawthorn defender Brent Guerra and West Coast key forward Josh Kennedy are sure to be talking points in the lead up to the first week of finals.

Guerra could barely walk after clutching at his left hamstring in a marking contest in the final quarter and hobbled straight off the ground.

Kennedy came from the field shortly after, appearing to have re-injured the left foot that has kept him out of most of the season. He returned to the field in the closing minutes, with the initial diagnosis a jarred ankle.

The Eagles seem certain to finish in fifth spot and host a home elimination final, provided Collingwood defeats Essendon on Saturday night.

Despite West Coast's late rally, Hawthorn never really looked like losing after booting five goals before their first behind.

After managing just five goals in a loss to the Eagles in round four, the Hawks kicked seven goals in the first quarter alone on Friday night, four of which came from the boot of Lance Franklin.

West Coast allowed Franklin far too much freedom up forward and struggled to contain the Hawks' fast forward movement early in the match.

After tearing the Eagles apart in the first quarter, Franklin had only another six possessions and no goals for the game.

The Eagles improved greatly after quarter-time, but coach John Worsfold said they never gave themselves a chance after a poor start.

"Really that first quarter was where they tested us, [but] generally for the rest of the game it was game on," Worsfold said.

"I think we outscored them, and there was not much in it across the board statistically looking at the two teams."

Franklin's bag of four leaves him short of winning his third Coleman medal, but Sam Mitchell's 28-possession effort would suggest the Hawks could still have a chance at winning an individual award this year. Mitchell's 2012 home and away season was at least as good if not better than the form that saw him finish second in last year's Brownlow polling.

The Eagles may have trailed all night but they showed plenty of fight, particularly in the last quarter when they booted four consecutive goals to reduce the margin to 19 points.

Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui dominated the ruck contests for the Eagles but did little else around the ground.

Scott Selwood was their biggest ball winner with 35 possessions, while Jack Darling was the most damaging of the West Coast forwards.

Defender Will Schofield floated forward on several occasions to kick two goals and finished as one of his team's best.

Despite the strong finish, the Eagles would be concerned with their recent poor record at the MCG. Friday was just the second time the Eagles have played at the venue this year, and they have only won one of their past 11 games at the ground.

The Hawks could not be in better form at the business end of the year, with wins over the Eagles and the Sydney Swans rounding out a solid home and away season.

"We've had two high-quality preparation games for finals. We've played two great sides, two sides that we'd hadn't been able to get over the line early in the season," Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said.

"Both West Coast and Sydney had defeated us in the earlier games and it was a finals-type intensity with lots of pressure, great tackling by both sides tonight. It was a fierce contest."

Luke Holmesby is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_Luke

HAWTHORN        7.1    10.6    11.10    14.11 (95)
WEST COAST     1.3     4.4     5.7        10.10 (70)
 
GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 4, Gunston 3, Breust, Burgoyne, Hale, Hodge, Puopolo, Rioli, Smith
West Coast: Darling 3, McGinnity 2, Schofield 2, Gaff, Hill, Waters
 
BEST
Hawthorn: Birchall, Mitchell, Franklin, Sewell, Hodge, Suckling, Gunston
West Coast: Scott Selwood, Darling, Waters, Shuey, Masten, Cox, Schofield
 
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Gunston (ankle), Guerra (left hamstring)
West Coast: Kennedy (left foot)
 
SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Cyril Rioli replaced Jack Gunston (ankle) in the third quarter
West Coast: Jacob Brennan replaced Andrew Strijk in the third quarter
 
Reports: Nil
 
Umpires: Stevic, Nicholls, McInerney
 
Official crowd: 50,023 at the MCG

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.