Fremantle went into the game boasting a terrible record at Aurora Stadium. Freo had won only one of its previous eight games at the venue, but it had never beaten Hawthorn there as its sole victory came against St Kilda in the infamous "sirengate" match back in 2006. Ross Lyon's men shut down Hawthorn during the first seven minutes of the game, and they held a brief lead after registering the opening score of the match – a behind. But with Cyril Rioli weaving his magic across half-forward, the Hawks then seized control of the game. Five goals up at the opening change, Hawthorn survived a late fightback from Freo, leaving Lyon to rue the absence of his three most experienced players – Matthew Pavlich (Achilles), Aaron Sandilands (hamstring) and Luke McPharlin (concussion).

When McPharlin was a late withdrawal from Fremantle's selected side, having failed to recover from the concussion he suffered after copping a high bump from Essendon's Paddy Ryder in round three, Tanner Smith came in for his first senior game. Making his AFL debut was a great achievement for Smith, who began playing footy at Kalkee, a proud bush club located among the wheat fields that surround the rural city of Horsham in western Victoria. Smith started in a key defensive post, although he was spared McPharlin's usual role against the Hawks, which is picking up Lance Franklin. Instead, Smith manned up on David Hale, but even that was a tough initiation. Smith conceded 12kg and a number of early marks to his opponent, and he battled on gamely but looked like a boy playing against men. Some more time in the gym is needed.

With five minutes to go in the second quarter, at which point Fremantle trailed by four goals, Ross Lyon produced a shock when he subbed Nick Suban out of the game. Suban, who had gathered just two possessions to that point, was not injured, so it was very much a tactical substitution. Suban's replacement made an immediate impact, helping set up Freo's fourth goal with handball to Cameron Sutcliffe, but the Fremantle supporters found themselves wondering if their coach had gone out on a limb. After all, if Freo had copped injuries in the second half, they would have found themselves with a fit man sitting idly on the bench. Asked by Channel 7 to discuss the situation at half-time, Lyon said: "There's nothing wrong with him. We just thought he hadn't touched it." And in the end it mattered little; Fremantle's players avoided injuries but were comfortably beaten anyway. Expect to see Suban running around in the WAFL next weekend.

Halfway through the second quarter, Luke Hodge took an intercept mark deep in defence and started a free-flowing passage of play that quickly drove Hawthorn into attack. The ball ended up with Lance Franklin, who began running towards goal. Rather than taking a shot, Buddy unselfishly dished the ball off to Paul Puopolo, who cantered towards the goal-line. But in a brilliant display of desperation, Fremantle midfielder Stephen Hill sprinted all the way to the goalsquare and snatched the ball out of Puopolo's grasp just as he was about to dribble it though for a major. It was reminiscent of Heath Shaw's effort in the 2010 Grand Final replay. There was another play of the day in the last quarter when Ryan Crowley tried to toe-poke the ball through from about 5cm behind the goal-line, only to somehow deflect it up in the air and into the goal post.

Hawthorn makes a shed-load of money out of playing at Launceston's Aurora Stadium regardless of whether anyone turns up. But there's no doubt the Hawks' administrators would be concerned by their declining attendances at the venue. The stadium wasn't much more than half full, with just 12,619 people turning up (the capacity is a touch over 20,000), which made it Hawthorn's lowest ever crowd at the venue. Just a handful of people populated the stand behind the goals at the southern end, and the small crowd meant the atmosphere at the game was flat until the scores tightened up midway through the last quarter. And Hawthorn's other three games at Aurora Stadium are not exactly blockbusters, with Greater Western Sydney, the Brisbane Lions and the Western Bulldogs featuring. The attendances for those games could well slip below 10,000.