Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade denied that he intended to fire an ominous warning shot on the eve of the highly-anticipated St Kilda-Geelong clash by annihilating Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

The Dogs were ruthless in defeating the Hawks by 88 points and in doing so they sent a strong message to the football world that this year's premiership race is anything but a two-horse field.

Eade's men, who remain in third spot on the ladder, monstered Hawthorn in the middle of the ground - primarily at the stoppages, in the clinches and with devastating foot skills.

The Dogs are now the clear-cut third favourites for the flag this year behind the undefeated Saints and Cats, but the timing of their astonishing performance against the Hawks was all just a coincidence, according to Eade.

"The intent was to get the four points and we obviously want to try and lock up a top-four spot, it's not locked away," said Eade.

"Obviously the top two have cleared out but there are some other teams chasing ... there's a couple of others too that are not far away so it's still a fair way to go in the season."

The Bulldogs kicked the first 14 goals of the match, blitzed Hawthorn in tackles (68-47), clearances (43-25), centre clearances (16-5) and contested disposals (110-86), presented the Hawks with their greatest-ever quarter-time deficit and held them to their first goalless first half in 30 years.

But despite all of that, in an ominous sign for the rest of the competition, Eade still believes there is room for improvement in his team which has now won seven of its past eight matches.

"There are some individuals that can get better and I think our consistency of the defensive pressure (can get better)," he said.

"We're getting better but we're still not where we want to be."

"I think the top two (St Kilda and Geelong) have set the standard in that area ... (but) we're making some ground and we're improving in that area."

"At times our decision-making and options weren't the way that we play and the way we train."

"We went outside the parameters a bit and that was a bit disappointing."

But Eade also lavished praise on his Bulldogs, their extraordinary first half in particular providing substantial satisfaction.

"We executed very well. It shows you too that if you can use the ball well ... it beats everything else," he said of his players' exquisite display of skill.

"We were up and going early, we got our hands on the ball first and if you can hit targets it makes it very difficult for the defenders."

While the Bulldogs midfield brigade was simply stunning, the efforts of key defenders Brian Lake and Dale Morris, who superbly blanketed Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead respectively, were not lost on Eade.

"They were terrific. Brian was obviously very good and Dale was good as well," he said.

"I think they were very good in the one-on-one contests but I think they got a lot of help up the field."

"I thought our pressure up the midfield and even the forwards were able to stifle their delivery and that's what you need."