HAWTHORN appears certain to regain premiership pair Sam Mitchell and Taylor Duryea for its blockbuster clash with league leader North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium next Friday night.

After just a six-day break, veteran Mitchell (back) and defender Duryea (hip) were spectators during the Hawks' 108-point hammering of Essendon at the same venue on Friday night, but Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson confirmed they would return to face the Kangaroos.

The last time the two teams met – in round five last year at Etihad Stadium – four-time club champion Mitchell was awarded three Brownlow votes in a 60-point victory.

Five talking points: Essendon v Hawthorn

"If we were playing tomorrow night, (Mitchell) would probably be OK, but he just didn't recover quite as well as we would have liked," Clarkson said post-match.

"He looked OK early in the week and then just sort of plateaued and didn't make much progress over two or three days through the middle part of the week …

"'Mitch' should be OK, I'm sure, and Taylor Duryea the same."

Clarkson was wary of the threat presented by the 10-1 North Melbourne.

"We've had some great battles with the Kangas over the last few years, (and) they've been a really good side thus far this year," he said.

"There's a few sides underneath them that are trying to chase them down (and) we're one of those and hopefully we can acquit ourselves well."

Crucially, the Hawks escaped unscathed from the encounter with the Bombers and lifted their percentage from 108.9 to 119, which remains a considerable margin behind the rest of their top-eight rivals.

"Percentage … is important. Of all the sides in the eight, our percentage was the worst," Clarkson said.

"To have a convincing victory like that (builds) belief in our players. That's the most convincing win they've had for the year, so we take a lot of things out of the game.

"We haven't put together a really strong four-quarter effort like that for a fair period of time."

The Hawks' small forwards were dominant once again. Picture AFL Media

Asked whether he'd have preferred his team to have had a tougher preparation for the clash with North, Clarkson dismissed the suggestion.

"No, it was a hard game tonight. It doesn't look like it on the scoreboard but it was reasonably physical and there was a lot of run," he said.

"Both sides had over 400 possessions – it's not common in AFL footy that that happens. When you're having that much disposal and sharing of the ball, players have to run hard to get it.

"Our boys worked hard tonight and so did the Essendon boys, so we're pleased with the workout."

However, the four-time premiership coach was unhappy with some of his players' decision-making and ball use in the second half.

"The manner in which we moved the ball in the third quarter wasn't the way we wanted to play," he said.

"We set ourselves a certain pattern for how we wanted to go about it and we just fell away from it, (and) it meant that we weren't scoring as potently.

"There were decisions that our players made that were against how we wanted to play.

"Coaches are only ever happy when they win Grand Finals, mate. The rest of the time they're shitty on something, and I'm probably the worst of them in that regard."

Clarkson praised the efforts of developing pair Tim O'Brien (two goals) and James Sicily, both of whom are being taught to play at either end.

Hawks forward Jack Gunston was also impressed with their efforts.

"They're both versatile players and they're developing," Gunston said post-match.

"'Sis' (Sicily) was good off half-back – he showed a bit of dash and a bit of X-factor, which we know he's got.

"Tim O'Brien probably could have kicked eight (goals) if he took a few of those marks. He was creating a good contest for us up forward."