HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson has praised the courage of his players after their fighting 15-point win over Fremantle at Subiaco on Saturday night.

In a topsy-turvy game, the Hawks trailed early by two goals, kicked eight of the next ten, let Fremantle dominate the third term when they closed the gap to three points before the visitors kicked five in 15 minutes either side of the final change.

That enabled them to go to a game high 35-point lead, before Freo kicked the final three majors as the clock wound down

Clarkson said the Perth heat was a significant factor early in the season, but his side had battled through it well, and agreed it was a really gutsy win.

"Yeah, it was. It was. Fremantle really ran hard in the third quarter, and we had some tired and injured blokes, but to withstand that challenge and go on and win the game was really pleasing," he said.

"It's always a very very hard ask to come to Perth, particularly off a six-day break.

"The MCG [last week's venue] is the hardest it has ever been, so we really needed to make sure that we recovered well.

"I thought in the first half we really ran the ball particularly well, but we were a bit dead on our feet there for a while in the third quarter, so for our guys to respond the way they did and get the points was really pleasing."

The Hawthorn coach was particularly pleased with how many of his young squad stood up to be counted when the going got tough.

"We just had key guys stand up for us in the last quarter, our leaders, and we got really good contributions from some of our younger players, (Xavier} Ellis and (Travis) Tuck had really good games for us tonight, we're really pleased with their games. (Cyril) Rioli, and (Cameron) Stokes, (Michael) Osborne, continue to do really good things for us up forward."

Clarkson said the match committee was conscious of the need to select a side that would make the most of the wide open spaces of Subiaco Oval.

"It's a big ground so you have to make sure you pick a running side, and [last week] we lost one of our best runners through injury – Timmy Clarke.

"That's why it was so important for Tuck and Ellis and these young lads – I'm not sure if you saw the game last week but Ellis cramped in every muscle in his legs, both legs – calves, thighs and hamstrings all at one time and we nearly needed to cart him off in an ambulance.

"So for him to recover like he did and then to have the game that he did tonight was a real credit to his preparation for this game, because he would have had a few demons in his head I suppose after last week's game."