HAWTHORN has stunned Collingwood with a 64-point victory over the Magpies in front of a big crowd at the MCG on Thursday night.

The 'Hollywood Hawks' led at every change, with their four big forwards, Mabior Chol, Jack Gunston, Mitch Lewis and Calsher Dear, kicking nine goals between them.

HAWKS v MAGPIES Full match coverage and stats

The Hawks' height in their forward half created headaches for an undermanned Collingwood defence which lost veteran defender Jeremy Howe in the opening moments of the game following a huge collision with Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe.

Howe was stretchered from the ground and immediately subbed from the match, while Newcombe passed his head injury assessment (HIA) to play out the remainder of the game.

The Hawks' tall forward line was joined by fellow big man, ruck Lloyd Meek, who kicked a career-high three goals to help his side to a huge 17.8 (110) to 6.10 (46) win in front of a crowd of 68,515.

Nick Watson put together one of the best games of his young career, finishing the night with two goals, 14 disposals and five score involvements.

The win put the Hawks a step closer to September action as they moved up to fifth position on the ladder with two games remaining.

For Collingwood, the loss makes it four defeats from its past five games, having lost to the Gold Coast, Fremantle, Brisbane and now Hawthorn in recent weeks.

The Pies still hold second spot on the ladder but coach Craig McRae will be hoping his side's form turns around as it heads into the pointy end of the season.

Star Collingwood midfielder Nick Daicos was held reasonably quiet, finishing with 24 disposals. Daicos came into the game under an injury cloud, having not trained with the main group during the week off the back of a five-day break. The star started the game on the bench and needed treatment on his neck throughout the match.

It will be a milestone match that Pies Steele Sidebottom and Harry Perryman will want to forget, with the pair notching up 350 and 150 games respectively.

It was a dramatic start to the game when 90 seconds in, Newcombe and Howe clashed heads on the wing, the pair with eyes only for the ball in the unfortunate incident.

Howe remained motionless on the ground for five minutes while the medical team attended to the former Demon. Newcombe went straight down into the rooms for a HIA, which he passed and returned to the ground later in the quarter.

Watson capitalised on the shocked Magpies when play resumed, intercepting a Darcy Moore tap down in defence and dribbling through a goal from 35 metres out. 'The Wizard' then kicked his second moments later, using his elite small forward craft to crumb a marking contest and dribble through the next.

Hawthorn's run and carry and quick hands caught the tired-looking Magpies off guard, with Massimo D'Ambrosio (24 disposals, six score involvements), Jarman Impey (25 disposals, five inside 50s) and Newcombe (28 disposals, 11 score involvements) putting speed on the ball and delivering to their dangerous forward line. Dear's marking was exceptional and led to him hitting the scoreboard, joined by Meek and Dylan Moore.

Brody Mihocek provided a glimmer of hope for the Magpies up forward as their only multiple goalkicker, but his goal was Collingwood's only for the second quarter, while Chol, Meek, Lewis and Gunston helped the Hawks kick seven unanswered goals.

The run of seven goals broke the game apart, the Hawks doing enough in the final quarter to keep the margin beyond 10 goals.

Big four or big five?
Much has been spoken about the Hawks' forward line in the past two weeks and their four tall forwards. But on Thursday night another tall forward made a name for himself. Ruckman Lloyd Meek pushed forward and hit the scoreboard, kicking a career-high three goals and taking seven marks.

Contrasting fortunes after huge collision
The Pies regained important defender Jeremy Howe for the first time since round 18, but his return was short-lived after a huge collision with Jai Newcombe just 90 seconds into the game saw him stretchered off and ruled out with concussion. While the Pies lost an important player in their defence, Newcombe went on to be arguably the best player on the ground in the Hawks' key win.

Sidebottom's milestone night doesn't go to plan
Though the result didn't go as the Pies would have hoped, this week has been a celebration of one of Collingwood's favourite sons. Steele Sidebottom became the second Collingwood player to play 350 games, joining his former captain and current teammate Scott Pendlebury. Sidebottom had moments, collecting 18 disposals and seven marks, with the veteran still playing good footy. The 34-year-old debuted back in 2009 and since then has won two premierships and two best and fairests.

HAWTHORN                3.3     10.3     14.5     17.8 (110)  
COLLINGWOOD          2.3      3.6       4.9       6.10 (46)  

GOALS
Hawthorn: Gunston 4, Meek 3, Chol 3, Watson 2, Worpel, Newcombe, Moore, Lewis, Dear
Collingwood: Mihocek 2, Schultz, Membrey, Lipinski, De Goey

BEST
Hawthorn: Newcombe, D'Ambrosio, Sicily, Impey, Amon
Collingwood: Pendlebury, N.Daicos, De Goey, Sidebottom, Mihocek

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Nil
Collingwood: Howe (concussion)

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Luke Breust (replaced Calsher Dear in the third quarter)
Collingwood: Ned Long (replaced Jeremy Howe in the first quarter) 

Crowd: 68,515 at the MCG