Friday night’s game and the first of another shortened round sees Hawthorn hosting West Coast.

The Hawks recorded their tenth win of the season last week with a 15 point win over Carlton. They were made to work hard for their victory and had to claw their way back from a seventeen point deficit in the third quarter.

It was their first run in two weeks after having the bye in round 11 where they had a soft win over Melbourne and will strip better for it.

Their opponents this week are coming of the bye and a narrow victory over St. Kilda in round 11, 84 – 80.

That was the Eagles’ sixth win of the season and they currently sit just outside the eight in ninth position on the ladder however, their record of 0-4 against sides in the top four have prevented them breaking into the top half the competition.

Hawthorn accounted for West Coast by 50 points when the two sides met earlier this year in Round 2 but, a closer look at the betting stats this season suggest the Eagles – with the start, may be an option.

The Hawks are 2-4 when playing at home as favourites this year and, taking out their victories over the struggling GWS and Melbourne in recent rounds, the Hawks average winning margin has been 18.4 in the past seven rounds.

TIP: HAWTHORN 1 – 39

Odds comparison by AFL Odds:

Hawthorn Hawks	1.16	1.17	1.17	1.17	1.16	1.16
West Coast Eagles	5.40	5.10	5.30	5.10	5.40	5.40

Teams:

Hawthorn Hawks:
B: Ben Stratton, Brian Lake, Brent Guerra
HB: Grant Birchall, Josh Gibson, Luke Hodge
C: Shane Savage, Sam Mitchell, Bradley Hill
HF: Paul Puopolo, Lance Franklin, Jordan Lewis
F: David Hale, Jarryd Roughead, Luke Breust
Foll: Max Bailey, Brad Sewell, Shaun Burgoyne
Int: Liam Shiels, Taylor Duryea, Jack Gunston, Jonathan Simpkin
Emerg: Kyle Cheney, Xavier Ellis, Matt Spangher

In: S.Savage
Out: I.Smith (corked calf)

West Coast Eagles:
B: Sam Butler, Darren Glass, Mitchell Brown
HB: Shannon Hurn, Eric Mackenzie, Beau Waters
C: Andrew Gaff, Scott Selwood, Andrew Embley
HF: Luke Shuey, Josh Kennedy, Chris Masten
F: Mark LeCras, Dean Cox, Jack Darling
Foll: Nic Naitanui, Matt Priddis, Daniel Kerr
Int: Blayne Wilson, Patrick McGinnity, Bradd Dalziell, Matt Rosa
Emerg: Brad Sheppard, Ashley Smith, Jacob Brennan

In: D.Glass, B.Waters, M.LeCras, J.Kennedy, B.Dalziell, P.McGinnity
Out: A.Selwood (back), J.Hill (hamstring), A.Hams, J.Brennan, B.Sheppard, J.Cripps