Tom Mitchell has boosted his Brownlow medal hopes with a star display in Hawthorn’s 59-point thrashing of Fremantle at Optus Stadium.
Mitchell tallied 42 possessions, seven clearances and two goals on Sunday as the Hawks prevailed 17.10 (112) to 7.11 (53) in front of a crowd of 41,845.
Hawks forward Luke Breust (four goals), Jaeger O’Meara (33 disposals, one goal) and veteran Shaun Burgoyne (20 disposals, seven clearances) were also crucial in the win.
Fremantle were held goalless from the 11-minute mark of the first term until the 22-minute mark of the third quarter, allowing the Hawks to boot eight unanswered goals and build a 50-point lead.
The win lifted Hawthorn (11-7) into seventh spot on the ladder.
But with teams likely to need at least 13 wins to make this year’s finals series, the Hawks still have some work to do, especially with tricky games against Essendon, Geelong and Sydney (SCG) in their run home.
Mitchell is the hot favourite to win this year’s Brownlow medal and his performance against the Dockers will help his cause.
The 25-year-old made a scintillating start to the match with four early centre clearances to help the Hawks boot three of the opening four goals.
The Dockers sent tagger Bailey Banfield to Mitchell after the early barrage and it allowed the home side to work their way back into the contest.
The margin was just 11 points at quarter-time but the game became one-way traffic from that point on.
Fremantle registered just six inside 50s in the second quarter and the second half proved just as painful as the Hawks strolled to victory.
The Dockers threw fullback Joel Hamling at full forward in the second half out of desperation but the premiership defender wasn’t able to score a goal.
Mitchell kept running to the end in a match that should earn him another three Brownlow medal votes.
And importantly, Hawthorn’s percentage improved by 3.7 per cent in the dominant win.
Burgoyne’s strong return from a hamstring injury also gave Hawthorn supporters plenty reason to smile.