Hawthorn’s impressive start to the AFL season means they have closed the gap just a little to grand finalists Geelong and Collingwood.
Coach Alastair Clarkson was at pains post-match to note that the job is far from complete.
The Hawks kicked clear in the final term of Friday night’s MCG blockbuster to beat the Magpies by 22 points.
It was the first time they had beaten Collingwood since round 22, 2010.
Their next opponents on Easter Monday are the Cats, who they have not beaten since their upset 2008 grand final triumph.
Collingwood broke the Hawks’ hearts when they beat them by three points in last year’s preliminary final, ending their season.
“We’ve made up some daylight, I reckon,” Clarkson said.
“There was daylight between Geelong and Collingwood and the rest of the competition last year.
“What we’ve tried to do over the summer is … bridge that gap a little bit.
“Now beating them in the first round of the season doesn’t suggest we’re there, we still have a lot of work to do.
“We don’t get much respite – we have a rest of eight or 10 days and then we’re into the Cats.”
Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge missed Friday night’s game after aggravating a calf muscle injury at Thursday training.
Clarkson said the star utility is an unlikely starter for the Geelong game.
“He’d be pretty doubtful to play (against) Geelong … calves are just tricky little things,” he said.
Clarkson and Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley separately described Friday night as an ebb and flow game.
Unusually for these two sides, the forwards dominated and Clarkson was disappointed that the ‘Pies had so many scoring shots.
“I don’t think either side play footy in that type of manner – they’re not sides that allow oppositions to kick 16, 18, 20 goals,” he said.
“That’s probably just a reflection of … round one of the season, players under fatigue, 130 minutes of footy, a pretty warm night.
“I’d expected that will settle down a bit over the next few weeks.”
But it was a great result for AFL fans, with the game producing plenty of highlights.
One of the stars was Hawks forward Cyril Rioli, who helped spark the side with his second-quarter brilliance.
He took a superb mark over Heath Shaw and kicked two goals.
“I got my workrate up in the second quarter – in the first, I was a bit down,” Rioli said.
“I was happy with my couple of goals.
“I think it was my second ‘speccy’ – I was happy with that, I don’t take too many of those, so I will take that.”
Clarkson also praised former Brisbane ruckman Broc McCauley, who made his Hawthorn debut and was competitive against Magpies star Darren Jolly.