THE Hawks have some of the best indigenous players going around and they again played a huge role in the club's round nine win over Melbourne.

Lance Franklin kick-started the charge with three first-term goals and, when the Demons looked like fighting back in the third term, second-year star Cyril Rioli snuffed out that challenge.

Hawk sharp-shooter Mark Williams, one of five Aboriginal players representing his club during the AFL’s themed round celebrating the contribution of the indigenous community, was also prominent and looked to be happy man after the match.

The other two indigenous Hawks were Chance Bateman, who was given the honour of leading the team on the day, and Cameron Stokes, who continued his development into a front-line player.

Sitting back to the wall in the MCG change rooms alongside Rioli, Stokes and Bateman, Williams admitted he and his “brothers” had tried to lift a notch to mark what he saw as a special round on the footy calendar.

“Changa was lucky enough to be our captain tonight,” Williams said after the convincing 22-point win.

“[It’s] not that we don’t lift for Mitch (captain Sam Mitchell) but it’s only one game of the year that an indigenous player like Chance – it’s the second time he’s done it – gets to represent our club and it really means something to us indigenous boys and we try to get the most out of us for that one game.”

Hawthorn’s 17.12 (114) to 13.14 (92) win made it four wins for the Hawks from their past five outings – a steadying of the ship after the rocky start to their premiership defence.

Williams can see the turning of the tide and says the signs are there for a charge in coming weeks.

“We’ve got a few injuries still. A few boys played at Box Hill on Saturday, Dewy (Stuart Dew), Xavier Ellis, Clinton Young, and we’ve still got Hodgey (Luke Hodge) to come back,” he said.

“In saying that it’s a good opportunity for some young blokes to be playing at the moment … and hopefully they can cement their spot and make it hard for the blokes coming back into the side.”

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson agreed that his younger players were progressing well and bigger-name stars would need to fight to get their spots back.

But having several players in form and returning to fitness was a positive for the club.

“We played some pretty damaging football in the first half,” Clarkson said after the game.

“I think the first half of footy was the best we’ve played for some time but you know we’ve still got a lot of concerns with some of our guys.

“Our Box Hill side had a really convincing victory yesterday (Saturday) and there’s good pressure from underneath.”

Things are looking up for the Hawks. Just a fortnight ago – after being crushed by Essendon – it seemed many were questioning the Hawks’ credentials.

Williams admitted successive wins had eased the pressure valve but urged his side to maintain their upward curve. "It’s much, much better to have a win, mate,” he said.

“We’ve still got a lot of improvement to make; it’s early in the season.

“But we’re in front now with our win-loss record so hopefully we can keep our consistency up and stay in front for the rest of the season.”