It was a night when both skippers stood up to lead their teams with Sam Mitchell finishing with 34 touches in a typically hard-running performance, while his opposite number Matthew Pavlich was brilliant around the ground with 30 possessions.
Lance Franklin finished with four goals and Cyril Rioli and Mark Williams each kicked two as the Hawks won 13.9 (87) to Fremantle’s 9.11 (65).
Hawthorn’s win on the road will give it some much-needed breathing space as they head home to face Melbourne next week.
The tackling intensity of both sides was a highlight of a tough opening five minutes before Chance Bateman broke free to post the Hawk’s first goal.
Stuart Dew quickly followed up with a superb long bomb after Mark Williams handed off just outside the 50 metre line as the Hawks established an early ascendancy.
Jordan Lewis and Mitchell started generating run through the midfield but Fremantle was able to steady with goals against the flow of play to Scott Thornton and Luke McPharlin.
Ben McGlynn was doing a superb job blanketing Paul Hasleby, keeping the dangerous Fremantle on-baller to just one handball for the quarter.
Franklin – who had spent some time on the bench mid-quarter – calmly slotted his first goal from the 50 metre line to give the Hawks a six-point lead at the first break.
Fierce tackling heralded the opening of the second quarter as the game became deadlocked between the opposing half-back lines.
Fremantle appeared to be gaining the upper hand as Ryan Murphy finally broke the stalemate after 14 minutes with the first goal of the term.
Mark Williams quickly responded for the Hawks before Franklin – who was being beaten by Chris Tarrant – marked and kicked truly for his second.
A defensive error by Tarrant just minutes later gifted Franklin his third and when Cyril Rioli goaled from a set shot from the boundary line, the Hawks had broken the shackles.
Fremantle tried desperately to shut down the game as half-time loomed but Garry Moss sharked a hit-out and dribbled through a goal with just seconds on the clock to give the Hawks a comfortable 30-point lead at the long break.
Williams quickly opened the scoring for the Hawks in the third quarter but Fremantle surged back into the game with Michael Johnson providing a target up forward and Hasleby finally shaking free from a hard Ben McGlynn tag.
The home side’s efforts were nullified to an extent by poor kicking but they narrowed the gap to 22 points before Rioli courageously won a 50-50 ball and fed a handpass to Michael Osborne who snapped truly from the boundary line.
But Fremantle continued to mount its challenge and the Hawks were relieved to go to the final break with a 22-point advantage.
Inspired by Pavlich, Fremantle threw everything at the Hawks but were again let down by poor kicking with their skipper’s early goal followed by a hat-trick of behinds from set shots.
The home side dominated the first 18 minutes of the quarter before Jarryd Roughead posted his first goal for the night and Franklin broke free from Tarrant to kick his fourth to snuff out the Fremantle challenge.
Mitchell narrowly shaded Pavlich for best on ground honours and was strongly supported by Lewis, Bateman, Rioli, McGlynn and Brad Sewell.
Paul Duffield and Byron Schammer continued their recent good form, Tarrant had the better of Franklin, while Aaron Sandilands and Michael Johnson also played key roles for the home side.
Fremantle 2.2 3.4 7.8 9.11 (65)
Hawthorn 3.2 8.4 11.6 13.9 (87)
GOALS
Fremantle: Murphy 2, McPharlin 2, Duffield, Johnson, Pavlich, Sandilands, Thornton
Hawthorn: Franklin 4, Rioli 2, Williams 2, Bateman, Dew, Moss, Osborne, Roughead
BEST
Fremantle: Pavlich, Duffield, Tarrant, Johnson, Broughton, Solomon
Hawthorn: Bateman, Mitchell, Sewell, Lewis, Franklin, McGlynn
INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Stevic, McLaren, Hendrie
Official crowd: 39,135 at Subiaco Oval
