HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson wasn’t surprised by the three reports that marred his side’s NAB Cup quarter-final win over Carlton on Saturday night.

Clarkson conceded it was disappointing to end the match with three of his players in the umpires' book, after Campbell Brown (charging), Josh Kennedy (making forceful contact) and Franklin (wrestling) were all reported.

"That's always a danger when you're playing NAB Cup games but you've got to put yourself in competitive environments; you can't just go into the season opener with no pre-season practice games," he said.

"You're exposed to the element, and you put 26 competitive beasts out there against an opposition. From time to time, you're going to cross that fine white line.

"We'll see what the outcome of that is throughout the course of the week, but it was a little bit of a downer."

Clarkson was pleased with his side's explosive first half against Carlton, as it enabled him to inject valuable game time into his younger players.

He was able to leave Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, Sam Mitchell, Grant Birchall and Stephen Gilham on the bench for extended periods in the second half, after the Hawks amassed a 52-point lead by half time.

"We're really pleased with the way we played for the greater part of the first half, and in the second half, the risk is you're perceived as being arrogant, but it gave us a great opportunity to play some of our younger players," Clarkson said, after the eventual 34-point victory.

"They made plenty of mistakes, but that's what it's about at this level and we're really pleased with the outcome of the game.

"To play so well when the whips were cracking early in the game and to get the opportunity at that level to expose so many of our younger players on our list was really pleasing for our club."

Of the younger players, Cyril Rioli and rookie Cameron Stokes both caught the coach's eye, with Clarkson applauding the way the pair managed to fit in with the forward structure.

"They've both had real good blocks of training over the last three months since they've been at the club, and they apply a lot of forward line pressure, which is good," he said.

"It's not just about them getting their hands on the ball and kicking goals; they apply an enormous amount of pressure when the opposition does get the ball, and try and rebound it out.

"I was really pleased with the contribution those two guys made in particular, but our whole forward line with 'Buddy' and Mark Williams and Tim Boyle and Michael Osborne, and Hodgy (Luke Hodge) when he was down there early, applied a lot of pressure to the opposition, which was really good."

The Hawks will now play the winner of Sunday's Adelaide-Fremantle clash next Saturday night, with the match to be held at either AAMI Stadium or Subiaco.