Lance Franklin has missed out on booting his 100th goal of the season, but his four-goal effort still helped the Hawks defeat a gallant West Coast by 71 points.

Buddy needed six to bring up the ton but came up against fired-up Eagles skipper Darren Glass, who kept Franklin to 4.5 in a fantastic personal duel that left the Hawks spearhead on 98 for the season.

The big Hawk had kicked his fourth by three-quarter-time but just couldn't get the bounce of the ball during an anti-climactic final term that saw Hawthorn run out easy 19.19 (133) to 9.8 (62) winners.

The Eagles showed plenty of grit and refused to be totally blown away by the Hawks in club veteran Michael Braun's last game. But Hawthorn's class won out during a superb third quarter, winning the clearances through the middle at ease and booting nine goals to three to set up the victory.

Along with Franklin, Campbell Brown chipped in with four as well, but both players were still basically cogs in a Hawks' forward line that created opportunities through sheer pressure on West Coast's young and turnover-prone defence.

Further up the ground, though, the result was set up by Brent Guerra's (32 disposals, four inside 50s and nine rebound 50s) and Jordan Lewis' (33 disposals) tireless efforts through the middle as Ben McKinley (three goals) and Steve Armstrong (24 disposals) were probably the best for the Eagles.

But Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson will have cause for concern over the next 24 hours after skipper Sam Mitchell and forward Mark Williams produced head high hits on Ash Hansen and Eric Mackenzie respectively, with both incidents certain to be scrutinised by the Match Review Panel.

After a disastrous performance against fellow struggler Melbourne last weekend, the Eagles attacked the contest with gusto during the early stages, refusing to be overawed by their finals-bound opponent.

Some quick clearances from West Coast saw the hosts kick the first goal of the game through a Mark Seaby set shot in the fourth minute.

But, for all its endeavour, the young West Coast side lacked the Hawks' polish and two mistakes under pressure in defence led to two Hawthorn goals as the visitors rapidly re-took the lead.

Buddy had been quiet for the first 20 minutes through Glass' efforts but he showed how dangerous he is when he took the ball from a boundary throw-in, spun out of trouble and snapped his first for the