Clarkson admitted his charges had encountered the Lions at a low ebb, but took nothing away from the dominant manner in which his Hawks disposed of their opposition.
“Just consistent over the four quarters which is really pleasing and we were able to control the game for most parts,” he said.
“They’re in a bit of a hole at the moment, the Lions, but you look through their side and they’ve got some really talented players. Gee whiz, if they get it together they can cause a lot of damage.
“We got out to a really good start and they started to crawl their way back into the game at the start of the second quarter and our second half of the second quarter was really strong and meant we could go in with a fairly decent buffer at half time.”
Hawthorn led at every change, most notably by 39 points at quarter time and 72 points at three-quarter time, by which time a brace of devastating seven-goal quarters had all but blown the visitors away.
Favoured by a stiff northerly breeze blowing to the city end in the first and third, the Hawks got great value for their long kicks forward and were able to fully capitalise on a dominant midfield.
“The game was played and won in the middle of the ground,” Clarkson said.
“We’ve got a view their [ruck] combination of Clark and Leuenberger is one of the better in the league, and I thought our guys were at least able to match them in that area and give our guys a good supply.”
It was the usual suspects in Luke Hodge (39 disposals), Sam Mitchell (35) and late-inclusion Brad Sewell (39) who dominated possession, but Clarkson also praised his team’s hard-working defensive output.
“Our pressure through middle of ground meant we were able to restrict them in getting the ball inside their forward 50, which was a great effort,” he said.
With a crunch match against St Kilda on Friday night looming large, Clarkson said star forward Lance Franklin was certain to return and could probably have played against the Lions with the aid of painkilling injections.
“He (Franklin) was reasonably close to playing this week but as soon as doctors or player mention ‘I’ll be right if I can play with a needle’ we’re not all that comfortable,” Clarkson said.
“We rested him up and it’s proved to be a good decision for us because we’ve won the game today and we get him right for the Saints on Friday night.”
