THE SIMILARITIES with the 2011 preliminary final were remarkable.

A big Friday night crowd at the MCG, a fierce, frenetic contest, highlights by the bucketload, and a handy Hawthorn lead whittled away and surrendered during the last quarter.

Only this time, the result was different.

This time, it was the Hawks who finished the stronger, booting five of the game's last six goals to run away with a 22-point victory over Collingwood in front of 78,464 fans.

Although the 20.17 (137) to 16.19 (115) would seem to have given justification to the pre-season hype around Alastair Clarkson's men, the coach refused to buy in.

"There was daylight between Geelong and Collingwood and the rest of the competition last year, and what we were trying to do over the summer was try to bridge that gap a little bit," Clarkson said post-match.

"Beating them in the first round of the season doesn't suggest that we're there. We've still got a lot of work to do."

Collingwood entered the contest without Nick Maxwell, Chris Tarrant, Alan Didak, Dayne Beams, Sharrod Wellingham and Ben Johnson, and still managed to stay in the game until late in the last quarter.

Despite the absence of so many key personnel, first-game coach Nathan Buckley was unimpressed.

"In the end, our 22 players weren't able to cover for each other and play the way we wanted to play and get the game on our terms as often as Hawthorn were, and that's why the scoreboard says what it says," he said.

Sam Mitchell and Brad Sewell were midfield generals for Hawthorn, waging an engrossing battle with Collingwood superstar Scott Pendlebury.

Mitchell had 31 disposals and Sewell 26 as the midfield momentum swung back and forth.

Lance Franklin finished off their tireless work, overcoming a slow start to finish with five goals and 21 disposals.

Grant Birchall offered rebound from defence in an eye-catching 28-touch display, but it was livewire forward Cyril Rioli who provided the spark in an inspired second quarter.

The 22-year-old jammed countless memorable moments into 30 brilliant minutes of football as the Hawks came from 13 points down to take a 15-point lead into half-time.

He booted two fleet-footed goals, took a spectacular leaping mark over Collingwood half-back Heath Shaw, chased and tackled, and sent teammate Jordan Lewis into an open goal with a slick no-look handpass.

Rioli's output decreased after half-time, and Collingwood turned a game-high 26-point deficit at the nine-minute mark of the third quarter into a five-point lead when Dale Thomas kicked the Magpies’ third consecutive goal at the 10-minute mark of the final quarter.

The Hawks quickly hit back, with the energy coming from third-quarter sub Jack Gunston. The former Crow booted a boundary-side goal and gathered seven disposals in his first game in brown and gold.

Small forward Jarryd Blair was the Magpies' leading goal-kicker, booting three opportunist goals.

Big man Travis Cloke was a constant threat in the air but was let down by his kicking.

He finished with two goals, three behinds, and one out on the full.

Thomas, Darren Jolly and Alex Fasolo also kicked two goals for the Magpies, and Brendan Whitecross, Lewis, Isaac Smith and Shane Savage all booted two for Hawthorn in the high-scoring affair.

Hawthorn         2.1    10.6    14.10    20.17 (137)
Collingwood     2.7    7.9      12.16    16.19 (115)

GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Rioli 2, Lewis 2, Whitecross 2, Savage 2, Smith 2, Birchall, McCauley, Burgoyne, Gunston, Osborne
Collingwood: Blair 3, Fasolo 2, Cloke 2, Pendlebury 2, Jolly 2, Thomas 2, Shaw, Swan, Paine

BEST
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Birchall, Sewell, Rioli, Franklin, Whitecross
Collingwood: Pendlebury, Ball, Blair, Swan, Cloke, Jolly

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Nil
Collingwood: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Jarrad Boumann replaced by Jack Gunston in the third quarter.
Collingwood: Peter Yagmoor replaced by Paul Seedsman in the third quarter.

Reports: Nil

Umpires: McBurney, McInerney, Mollison

Official crowd: 78,464 at MCG

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