The Hawks warmed up for a challenging run to the finals by downing the Demons 17.13 (115) to 9.11 (65) at the MCG.
Inspirational captain Luke Hodge was substituted off at three-quarter time after a bruising collision with Melbourne ruckman Mark Jamar, while Jordan Lewis continued his sensational year to be best on ground.
Five talking points: Hawthorn v Melbourne
Hodge punched the ground after copping an accidental knee to his side in a third-term marking contest, but shooed officials away and played the rest of the quarter out.
The ladder-leading reigning premiers face Fremantle, Geelong and Collingwood before September.
Roughead risks missing at least the Grand Final rematch against the Dockers, in Perth next Sunday.
Showreel: Roughead rules the roost
The 27-year-old, who kicked five goals against Melbourne to bring his season tally to 55 and get closer to defending his Coleman Medal, was reported in the second quarter when he clashed legs with Dom Tyson.
Tyson evaded the key forward, who then seemingly flung his left leg out instinctively rather than maliciously in front of 37,082 fans.
The Demon midfielder quickly hopped to his feet and took the resultant free kick, which will help Roughead when the Match Review Panel analyses the incident on Monday.
But even if the panel classify Roughead's charge as negligent, he could still miss a match due to 64 carryover demerit points from a one-week ban earlier this season.
"We'll just wait and see ... we'll leave it up to the Match Review Panel and see how we go," Roughead told Fox Footy.
The omission of Roughead would further test Hawthorn's depth and force Alastair Clarkson to reshape his forward line yet again.
The Hawthorn coach claimed he was unsighted after the game, and wouldn't be drawn to condemn Roughead.
"I'm not going to forecast what we're going to do. Because I don't even know if he's playing or not," Clarkson said.
"We'll work it out on Monday or Tuesday once we know what's going on.
"We've got a whole host of options, and we'll see where we go with it."
Jack Gunston injured his knee last week and is likely to miss another one or two games.Luke Breust booted three goals on Saturday, while Bradley Hill kicked two and was stationed deep in the Hawks' forward line for much of the game.
The contest started in scrappy fashion, Hawthorn needing 13 minutes before Roughead booted the opening goal.
Melbourne hung tough early, ruckman Max Gawn benefiting from a 50m penalty to slot the opening goal of the second quarter and reduce the margin to nine points.
The Demons never got closer, but Paul Roos was pleased with the amount of grit his team showed.
"It was definitely a huge learning curve for us against a really good team," he said.
"Probably in the past I suspect this club might have gone down by 100-plus points, but I thought today we fought it out and I was really pleased with the second half."
The Hawks punished turnovers and put on intermittent bursts of champagne football, increasing their lead at every break.
Lewis finished with a game-high 34 disposals, seven tackles and eight clearances, while Tyson and Nathan Jones were among Melbourne's best.
Watch below: Hawk Ben Stratton lays a backwards tackle
HAWTHORN 4.4 10.8 15.8 17.13 (115)
MELBOURNE 2.1 4.5 7.8 9.11 (65)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Roughead 5, Breust 3, Hill 2, Smith 2, Lewis, Shiels, Schoenmakers, Hale, Puopolo
Melbourne: Gawn 2, Kent, Frawley, Viney, Kennedy-Harris, Riley, Tyson, Dawes
BEST
Hawthorn: Lewis, Roughead, Shiels, Breust, Hodge, Hill
Melbourne: Tyson, N. Jones, Kent, Gawn, Jetta, Howe
INJURIES
Hawthorn: TBC
Melbourne: TBC
SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Billy Hartung replaced Luke Hodge at three-quarter time
Melbourne: Aidan Riley replaced Rohan Bail in the third quarter
Reports: Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn) for tripping Dom Tyson (Melbourne) in the second quarter
Umpires: Dalgleish, Foot, Ryan
Official crowd: 37,082 at the MCG
Ben McEvoy and Chris Dawes fight for the ball as the Hawks prevailed at the MCG. Picture: AFL Media
