HAWTHORN did everything but find Lance Franklin his 100th goal at Subiaco Oval on Sunday, cruising to a 71-point over West Coast but leaving Franklin stranded two goals shy of his ton.
The Hawks kept their grip on second spot, winning 19.19 (133) to 9.8 (62).
Franklin, who began the game needing six goals to bring up his ton, kicked two in the opening quarter and one in each of the second and third terms. But he couldn’t find a fifth goal, managing just two behinds for the final quarter and finishing with 4.5. He will chase his ton next Sunday against Carlton and Brendan Fevola, who needs eight goals for his own century.
A nine-goal third quarter blew the game open after the Eagles had done well to stay close to the Hawks in the first half.
Franklin kicked his fourth from a free kick in that term, but most of the Hawks’ goals were kicked on the run, with eight different goalscorers for the quarter.
Hawthorn had winners all over the ground, with Jordan Lewis (33 possessions) and Brent Guerra (32) outstanding, well-supported by Sam Mitchell (34), Grant Birchall (28), Brad Sewell (33), Chance Bateman (26) and Stuart Dew (25), while Campbell Brown finished with four goals. Brent Renouf and Simon Taylor teamed up effectively to negate the influence of Dean Cox around the ground.
Matt Priddis, Quinten Lynch and Chad Fletcher worked hard in a losing West Coast midfield. Michael Braun marked his final game at Subiaco with a solid 23-possession effort, while Glass was outstanding in denying Franklin his 100 goals.
With the pre-match hype solely focused on Franklin, the Hawks opted to start him on a wing against young Eagle Matthew Spangher.
That match-up lasted only five minutes before Franklin was moved to the more familiar full-forward role, matching up on West Coast skipper Darren Glass.
The Hawks capitalised on defensive errors by West Coast to post their first two goals through makeshift forward Brown and Clinton Young.
Franklin finally broke free with a superb solo effort at the 21-minute mark, taking the ball from a boundary throw-in and snapping truly with his left foot. He followed up minutes later with his second coming from a mark and set shot from 50 metres.
In a high-possession game, the Hawks were dominating around the ground. Rick Ladson, Lewis, Bateman, Guerra, Dew, Birchall and Mitchell were all prominent as they took a handy 21-point lead to the first break.
Franklin was back in the action early in the second quarter when a free kick and 50 metre penalty put him in the goal square; the resulting kick landing high in the third tier of the western grandstand.
But back-to-back goals from Ben McKinley kept the Eagles within reach and, despite having the upper hand for most of the term, the Hawks went to the long break still only 21 points ahead.
Franklin missed a set shot early as the game split open in the third term, and had to watch a parade of goals before finally kicking his fourth in time-on, a 50m effort from the boundary line which split the middle.
The game was all but over at the final break with the Hawks holding a commanding 58-point lead, and the only question remaining being whether Franklin could find goals number 99 and 100.
The door appeared to open for Franklin when the close-checking Glass was given a rest on the bench midway through the final quarter, but it was not to be.
West Coast 1.1 4.3 7.6 9.8 (62)
Hawthorn 4.4 7.6 16.10 19.19 (133)
GOALS
West Coast: McKinley 3, Davis 2, Armstrong, Lynch Seaby, Embley
Hawthorn: Franklin 4, Brown 4, Williams 3,Young 2, Roughead 2, Birchall, Sewell, Bateman, Stokes
BEST
West Coast: Glass, Priddis, Fletcher, Cox, Mackenzie
Hawthorn: Lewis, Guerra, Mitchell, Birchall, Rioli, Williams, Sewell
INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Ryan, Wenn, Armstrong
Crowd: 37,040 at Subiaco Oval
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
