Ball magnet Sam Mitchell was a late withdrawal for the Hawks, waking up ill on Saturday morning in Launceston. It's bad enough missing any game when you’re a professional footballer – but when you’re a Brownlow Medal hopeful who polled three votes against the Dogs in last season’s corresponding fixture it might feel even worse. As it was, Mitchell was replaced by veteran campaigner Brad Sewell who was serviceable, but the Hawks definitely missed the little maestro around the ground.

The big news pre-match was that midfield dynamo Mitchell would miss with illness, but 21-year-old Will Langford’s arrival on the AFL scene provided a more positive talking point for the Hawks. Presented with his jersey by his father, club legend Chris, Langford Jr. started on the pine and finished with just four disposals on debut, but did a solid job in shadowing Bulldogs’ link-man Robert Murphy across half-back for much of the first half.

Hawthorn could have blown the Bulldogs away during the first quarter, racking up 10 scoring shots on the way to 4.6 for the term. The Hawks earned repeated forward forays through a mixture of classy ball movement and ferocious forward pressure – and it was all the Dogs could do to get back in numbers at times. But after quarter time, the relentless tackling and intensity of the Bulldogs dried up Hawthorn’s scoring opportunities and made for a genuinely hard-fought contest until it opened up again late in the piece.

Having earned a questionable 50m penalty after a mark midway through the second term, Hawthorn’s Kyle Cheney seemed assured of a goal from the top of the square. As patrons chalked the major down in their AFL Record, Cheney conspired to shin the ball through for a behind, an action met with a mix of cheers, boos and groans. Several minutes later, with his side struggling to break free of the determined Dogs, Hawks skipper Luke Hodge showed his teammate how to find the goal, launching a monster barrel from 65m out that bounced through and helped everyone erase memories of Cheney’s awful clanger.

Even though he can make the stunning look simple at times, Hawthorn talisman Cyril Rioli may feel like telling anyone who’ll listen just how tough his day was against the Bulldogs. Faced with a hard tag from renowned stopper Liam Picken, Rioli rarely found space and had less than his usual impact on the contest. Such was Picken’s dedication to the role, Rioli had little option but to focus on the defensive side of his game – racking up an impressive nine tackles as a result.