AS IS OFTEN the case, the forwards were the stars of the Hawthorn show, but it was the midfield that got significant praise from coach Alastair Clarkson after the Hawks 54-point win over Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.

Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead kicked 12.7 between them, but the open Hawks forward line and some superb delivery – along with an outclassed Collingwood defence – made the job easier than it might otherwise have been.

Skipper Sam Mitchell had 35 touches, Jordan Lewis 38, Luke Hodge 32, Xavier Ellis 28 and Chance Bateman 23 as the Hawks out-possessed the Pies by over 80 touches and went inside 50m 60 times to 42.

“They’re very similar, the Collingwood and Hawthorn midfields in terms of tough, hard bodies, and we’ve got a lot of regard for the way the Collingwood midfield go about it,” Clarkson said after the match.

“(Dane) Swan, (Scott) Burns, (Shane) O’Bree and those type of guys, they’ve just been stellar players for the Pies, and we’ve got similar guys like that ourselves, with Lewis and Mitchell and (Brad) Sewell and those types of guys, so we knew it would be a real battle in there.

“I was pleased – I reckon we might have just got the points in that midfield battle tonight. It was so important, being able to get the ball inside 50 to the tall targets up forward.”

Although the Hawks kicked the ball more times than they moved it on by hand, they consistently used chains of handballs to get themselves into space before driving the ball forward. But Clarkson said it wasn’t something that was a major focus.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who use the ball particularly well by hand – Sewell and Mitchell and Bateman and those types of guys.

“Sometimes it ends up being a volley of handballs, and other times you just need to get it on your boot quickly.

“So it’s not always pre-designed that way, but we know that if we move the ball quickly from the stoppage it gives us our best chance to score with open space in our forward line.

“But it’s not always possible, particularly against Collingwood – you don’t usually generate that type of free ball on a regular basis against the Pies.”