Hawthorn downed a plucky Port Adelaide by 72 points on Sunday in Launceston, but the win could come at a cost with star forward Cyril Rioli injured.
The Hawks made it six wins from their past seven since the bye and firmed up their place in the top four with goal blitzes in the second and fourth quarters to win 24.15 (159) to 13.9 (87).
But on an eventful afternoon for Rioli, the small forward was subbed out of the match at halftime with what appeared to be an injury to his left shoulder.
Rioli had already been helped from the field once after copping a low blow off the ball which sparked a fracas involving at least a dozen players at quarter-time.
He returned to kick the first of Hawthorn’s eight second-quarter goals 18 seconds into the term but was gone again with the shoulder problem before the long break.
Port showed plenty of the “non-negotiables” caretaker coach Garry Hocking had asked for when he took over from the dumped Matthew Primus last week, leading at the first break and kicking five goals to four in the third to stay in touch.
They booted the first goal of the final term through Paul Stewart to narrow the margin to just 17 points but the Hawks had too much class – even without Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead – and slammed home 11 majors in the fourth.
For the Hawks, Paul Puopolo kicked five, David Hale four and Luke Breust three.
Jay Schulz booted four and Brett Ebert a double for Port Adelaide.
Down by 13 points after the first, Hawthorn stepped on the accelerator in the second, kicking eight goals to two in the term, including two in as many minutes to Isaac Smith.
The Power gave themselves some hope with majors to Schulz and Travis Boak but trailed by 26 points at the long break.
Port had signalled they were determined to restore some pride with the first two goals of the match through Matthew Broadbent and Ebert.
It took the Hawks 15 minutes to get on the board, through a behind to Brendan Whitecross, and they scored their first goal through youngster Jack Gunston on the 20-minute mark.
