INJURIES to more key players have marred Hawthorn's clinical 65-point demolition of arch-rival Essendon in front of 64,537 fans at the MCG on Friday night.

Without suspended key forward Lance Franklin, the Hawks had a season-best 11 individual goalkickers in the 23.8 (146) to 12.9 (81) win, their 10th of the season, but lost Cyril Rioli and Brad Sewell during the match.

After a bright start to the season in James Hird's first year as coach, the Bombers have now lost five consecutive games and will be replaced in the top eight by either Melbourne or Richmond, who meet at the MCG tomorrow afternoon.

Making matters worse, Essendon was also hit by the injury curse, with skipper Jobe Watson going down with a left hamstring strain - the opposite leg to the one that sidelined him earlier in the season - while David Myers and Sam Lonergan also finished the game on the bench.

Hawthorn built its win on the back of its precise kicking, banging on eight goals to one in a brilliant second quarter in which it had 79 kicks to Essendon's 33 and 42 marks to just 14, opening up a 61-point half-time lead.

The Hawks extended their lead to a game-high 67 points early in the third quarter before Essendon restored some respectability to the scoreboard as the heat went out of the game with four last-quarter goals.

As the intensity of the contest waned, the talking point of the second half was the procession of injured players heading for the bench.

After Thomas Murphy was a late withdrawal before the match with a shoulder problem, playmaker Rioli left the ground with a right hamstring strain and tough midfielder Sewell went off with a suspected medial ligament strain in his left knee.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said post-match he was hopeful both Rioli and Sewell's injuries are only minor, and he expected to regain Murphy next week.

The Bombers' medical staff were just as busy, with Watson and Myers both suffering hamstring strains and Lonergan a knee injury that coach James Hird said has ended his season.

Hird estimated that Watson and Myers were both facing a three-week layoff.

Influential players
Hawthorn had seven players kick multiple goals, with lively youngsters Isaac Smith, Shane Savage and Liam Shiels and experienced half-forward Michael Osborne bagging three each.

Among a host of outstanding performers in the Hawks' biggest win over Essendon in 19 years, Grant Birchall set the game up off half-back, Luke Hodge was at his tough, influential best through the middle of the ground, and David Hale, with added responsibility as his team's only tall forward target, took three contested marks and kicked two goals.

In-form former captain Sam Mitchell had his fourth 38-touch game of the season, contributing a game-high 16 contested possessions.

For the Bombers, Heath Hocking was dogged in and under with 12 contested possessions, Brent Stanton had 31 disposals and kicked two goals, David Zaharakis was prolific (also 31 disposals) and small forward Leroy Jetta's three goals made his a serviceable performance.

What it means
The Hawks' depth keeps getting tested, and so far they've answered every challenge by finding a new player to come in and fill a role.

This week, Kyle Cheney was that player. The former Demon was called up late for Murphy and slotted comfortably into a well-oiled backline, and managed to kick his first career goal in the second quarter.

Hawthorn will face its biggest test yet should it lose Rioli and Sewell for next week's clash with defending premiers Collingwood, but Clarkson believes there are still some young players waiting in the wings as the Hawks seek to stave off the injury curse and hold onto their top-four spot in the run to the finals.

Essendon now faces a major challenge just to figure in September action.

On a night when they played three key targets forward against a team with only one experienced key defender - and a sub-190cm key defender at that - the Bombers' forward line was once again ineffectual and is Hird's major worry.

While the Bombers’ forward line struggles, equally concerning for Hird will be the loss of skipper Watson, whose initial hamstring injury was the catalyst for Essendon's tumble from its early-season heights.

The Bombers could manage only nine marks inside attacking 50 all night compared to the smaller Hawks' 15, with only Brent Stanton taking more than one.

It doesn't get any easier for the Bombers next week either, with the top-of-the-ladder Cats awaiting.

Magic moment
While it was difficult to pick out a specific moment in such a polished Hawthorn display, Birchall's effort in the third quarter, which led to a running Smith goal, summed up the gulf in class and determination between the teams. 

With the ball loose on Essendon's half forward line, Bombers Jake Melksham and Michael Hibberd looked at each other to decide who would pick it up.

While they hesitated, Birchall screamed in low and bottled it up, winning himself a free kick.

The ball quickly found its way to the other end and into the hands of a dashing Smith, who took three bounces, banged the goal home and celebrated with the enthusiasm of a first-year AFL player who was playing country footy in Ballarat this time last year.

Key match-up
Josh Gibson’s name didn’t stand out on a stats sheet that sported a number of high possession-getters and multiple goal-kickers, but his job on Michael Hurley was crucial in ensuring the Hawks were never challenged.

Gibson went to the opposition's best forward, who had kicked four goals in a lively display last week, and restricted him to just five kicks, no marks inside 50 and no goals.

For good measure, the former Kangaroo racked up 25 possessions himself and, like many of his defensive teammates, used his left boot with great effect to drive Hawthorn forward.
 
Toyota AFL Dream Team highlight
Hawthorn: Nine Hawks managed over 100 points, led by Smith (138) and Shiels (134).
Essendon: Stanton was the Bombers' leading scorer with 119 points, closely followed by Zaharakis on 115.

Next four
Hawthorn: The Hawks will start at long odds to defeat Collingwood next week given their huge list of injuries, but more favourable clashes with the Brisbane Lions and Melbourne either side of a bye follow.
Essendon: The Bombers cop Geelong next week, followed by Richmond, Adelaide in Adelaide, and then Carlton.

What the coaches said
Alastair Clarkson (Hawthorn)
"We knew that if we were able to get the ball to ground level we'd give ourselves a really good chance in terms of our run, and that's the way the game panned out in the first half. It became a bit more of a battle in the second half, but the real hard work was done early by our boys, which was good.”

James Hird (Essendon)
"We are going to have some disappointments, and tonight is as disappointing as we have had along the journey. There is no doubt that sitting in the box, half way through the second quarter you get pretty frustrated and you get pretty disappointed, but we are going to learn from it and we are going to get better."

Quarter by quarter

First quarter
After its slow start last week, Essendon bolted from the blocks against the Hawks. Tom Bellchambers won the first bounce, and the play ended with Leroy Jetta running into an open goal within the first 15 seconds. The Hawks quickly settled and soon responded with a goal from Jordan Lewis. Hawthorn started to control the midfield, with Lewis becoming dangerous at stoppages, and goals came from Cyril Rioli and Luke Hodge. A handball intercept from Jobe Watson set up the Bombers and Jetta's second goal, but Hawthorn always had the answers. Late in the quarter, Liam Shiels fought hard to keep the ball in Hawthorn's forward zone and then kicked a goal.  

Second quarter
The Hawks blew the contest apart by kicking eight goals to one in the second term. The most telling statistic was Hawthorn's 18 inside 50s for the term to Essendon’s five. The Hawks shared the load, with six individual goal kickers in the term, with Issac Smith and Shiels both kicking two for the quarter. The blistering attack was stemmed for only a moment to allow the Bombers to kick their only goal of the term, which came from Bellchambers after a 50-metre penalty.

Third quarter
The Bombers tried to fight back in the third quarter but were hampered by injuries. Lonergan had already been subbed off with a knee injury, and he was joined by Watson and David Myers, both sidelined with hamstring injuries. The Hawks also lost Rioli to a hamstring injury in the third quarter. The Hawks outscored the Bombers by a single goal in the third term. Essendon was able to get its defensive press going for part of the quarter, but was unable to keep the pressure going in the face of the Hawks’ relentless attack and their mounting injury toll.

Fourth quarter
With the intensity out of the game, the Bombers started to get some run through David Zaharakis, Alwyn Davies and Angus Monfries. The Hawks opened the term with a goal to Shane Savage before Davey kicked one from the goal square. Essendon looked like outscoring the Hawks in the final term until late goals from Savage and Osborne re-established Hawthorn’s 10-goal lead.

Hawthorn       6.2   14.4  19.6   23.8 (146)
Essendon      3.2    4.3    8.6    12.9 (81)

GOALS
Hawthorn: Shiels 3, Smith 3, Savage 3, Osborne 3, Rioli 2, Hale 2, Lewis 2, Suckling 2, Hodge, Cheney, Whitecross
Essendon: Jetta 3, Davey 2, Stanton 2, Hocking, Bellchambers, Howlett, Melksham, Zaharakis

BEST
Hawthorn: Birchall, Shiels, Hodge, Hale, Smith, Lewis, Mitchell
Essendon: Hocking, Jetta, Stanton, Heppell, Zaharakis

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Murphy (shoulder) replaced in the selected side by Cheney, Sewell (left knee), Rioli (right hamstring)
Essendon: Lonergan (left knee), Watson (left hamstring), Myers (right hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Brad Sewell (left knee) replaced by Chance Bateman at halftime.
Essendon: Sam Lonergan (left knee) replaced by Jake Melksham in the second quarter.

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Donlon, Chamberlain, Armstrong

Official crowd: 64,537 at the MCG.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.