HAWTHORN strongman Trent Croad came back two weeks earlier than expected from a round-one wrist injury to star in Saturday night's win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

Croad had the arduous task of standing Lions superstar Jonathan Brown for almost the entire four quarters.

The result? Brown had a miserly return of 10 possessions, two marks and no goals.

While Daniel Bradshaw ran rampant with seven goals, Croad had the clamps on Brown for the entire contest.

After the match, Croad, 27, said he was exhausted, but ecstatic to win and contribute so strongly.

“[Brown]’s a fantastic player and I have a lot of respect for him, and he's the go-to player,” Croad told hawthornfc.com.au.

“I was told I'd be out for six weeks and I only missed three. I was underdone so I just had to try and stay with him. He covers the ground so well and he's the type of player in a close game like that that can win them the game.

“It can be very, very daunting standing 20 metres out from goal with Jonathan Brown and they're a goal down, but I’m surrounded by some great players in Campbell Brown, Stephen Gilham, Brent Guerra, Rick Ladson and Grant Birchall and guys like that. We're really building a strong unity in our defence and great teams have great defence.”

Croad said the win – Hawthorn's fifth successive to start the season – had huge significance for the club.

It was the first time they had won at the Gabba since 2000 and capped a start to the season that included successful road trips to Perth and Launceston.

“It's a fantastic feeling to know the team is building a really strong core that can finally win, whether it's been in Perth or Brisbane and we're starting to get a real consistency about ourselves due to the team's maturity,” he said.

“We haven't won here in eight years – it's a fair stat, isn't it? – and it's just fantastic that the team has been rebuilt to do these things.”

Part of the rebuilding includes the emergence of Lance Franklin, whose eight goals in the 12-point win was again the talking point.

Croad paid the biggest compliment he could to his teammate, then slipped in a lighthearted joke to keep his feet on the ground.

“It's a pleasure to have a kid like that with such skill,” Croad said.

“The 11 or 12 years I've played I haven't seen a talent as good as him. We just have to work on his personality and make him funnier. He's got the personality of an indoor fern.

“The confidence, especially with those kids, Franklin, Roughead, Rioli, those young kids to experience an away win like that and to understand that's what you have to do to be the best, can only benefit them.

“They're fantastic, they're always bright-faced and got something new for me and call me a fossil. I'm the fourth eldest at the club. Crawf is the oldest, then Stuart Dew is 29, then Brent Guerra is just older than me, but it's fantastic, they keep me really young.”

Croad said he pulled up “bloody sore” but that was to be expected after his time out.