1. Tassie says farewell to Hodge
Whether it was the special appearance of Eurovision contestant Isaiah Firebrace, the pyrotechnics show or the gigantic number 15 jersey that adorned the centre square pre-match, there was little doubt Luke Hodge's last game in Launceston was going to be celebrated in style. The 303-game veteran is adored by Hawks fans all over the country, but given the reception he received with every disposal on Sunday, he has clearly made an awesome impression on those loyal Tassie Hawks fans. Marshalling the Hawthorn defence assuredly, Hodge finished with 29 disposals and nine marks to be among the best for Hawthorn.

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2. North's bruise-free first half
Of Hodge's 15 touches at the long break, 13 had been uncontested, perfectly illustrating the trend across the ground where the Hawks enjoyed 47 more uncontested touches than the Kangaroos at half-time. They were also racking up uncontested marks and aside from a handful of sloppy turnovers were completely dominating proceedings. Although the Roos were able to win more of the contested ball – and dominated centre clearances 11-4 in the first half – their inability to pressurise Hawthorn's ball movement gave an air of inevitability to proceedings until North switched on during a seven-goals-to-five third term.

3. Brown a beacon for North
Tasmanian full-forward Ben Brown took his place in the North line-up despite being concussed last weekend against Collingwood. He wasted no time making an impact. His first involvement was a bad miss from his first shot on goal, but far from sitting back he threw himself into the contest and was unlucky to be denied what looked like a towering pack mark. The Coleman Medal hopeful turned provider to help lay on North's first goal to Kayne Turner before earning a roar from the crowd when a clever left-foot snap saw him hit the scoreboard and cap off an impressive opening term.

4. Roos find their fight
Brad Scott brought his whole group in tight at three-quarter time, clearly urging his troops to continue the five-goal run that saw them roar back into the contest during the second half of the third term. Just when it had seemed that Hawthorn would continue to pull clear having booted the first two majors after half-time, that man Brown came to the party with two goals – and was matched by Taylor Garner who added two of his own to breathe life into what had been a relatively lacklustre contest in front of 14,509 at University of Tasmania Stadium.

5. Langford's awful miss
While his accuracy was never in question when he laid an infamous smooch on Sydney Swan Jarrad McVeigh a couple of weeks back, Hawthorn's Will Langford caused another stir during the opening term in Launceston with his official entry for 'miss of the year'. Langford found himself strolling into an open goal on the back of a terrible turnover from North's Declan Mountford, but couldn't convert despite being under almost no pressure. Whether it was as simple an opportunity as that squandered by Adelaide's Tom Lynch on Saturday night is debatable, but Langford's miss certainly did nothing to remedy his recent troubles in front of goal.