Check out highlights of Gunston and Lewis' game in the player above.

WHEN you speak of key forward duos, the names Jack Gunston and Jordan Lewis often don't get a mention.

But against Collingwood at the MCG on a sunny Saturday afternoon, they were the dominant players inside 50 on the ground.

Lewis kicked five and Gunston three.

Both also created goals for their teammates as the Hawks kicked 21 goals for the afternoon - the most the Magpies have conceded for the season.

Lewis began on the bench before being pushed forward to stand next to Collingwood playmaker Heath Shaw. He kept Shaw occupied - the star Pie quite often watched the ball go over his head and through the goals. 

Gunston, playing just his 24th game, was just expected to join his teammates in geting dangerous in the forward half, more specifically leading up at the ball carrier and creating an aerial contest. He did that in style.

The two combined midway through the first quarter when Matt Suckling began a counter attack from a kick out to Ryan Schoenmakers that ended with Josh Gibson going long to a forward pack.

Gunston launched and took a mark that any tall of the Hawks golden era in the ’80s would have been proud. He then dished the handball of to Lewis who kicked the goal.

It impressed Luke Breust, who has watched his teammate's progress from close quarters.

"He's a great lead-up forward and plays his role really well," Breust said. "[He] takes a very strong mark and you saw that in the first half today. He was very good and created a lot of opportunities for us early."

Gunston would be the first to admit he was the beneficiary of some good work in the midfield but he did what he was asked to, providing an option at all times. Cyril Rioli agreed.

"He can take a good grab and he can jump pretty high," Rioli said "It's not great that we've got Buddy [Lance Franklin] out, but it gives him (Gunston) a good test to see where he's at and play that centre-half forward role and play full forward as well."

While the movement of Lewis up forward was something of a surprise, as many pundits would have expected Rioli to be the one to frighten the Magpie defenders, he made the move look very shrewd.

Breust said Lewis was a good choice for the role, possessing many attributes that are hard to match up on.

"He is just so strong and can take a good contested mark and in terms of who the opposition play on him; [it's] pretty hard [to decide] who you put on him," Breust said. "He is pretty quick, can get it on the lead, can contest a mark, create a good contest plus he is also outstanding at ground level so he adds another dimension down there."

Those other dimensions were apparent in a two-minute patch in the third quarter when he snapped a goal then followed up with a set shot that stretched the margin to eight goals and finished the contest. 

After the game Lewis underplayed his importance, saying the ball fell in his lap a few times.

He was more interested in talking about the collective plan. "We really went into the game trying to play [as] dangerous forwards," Lewis said.