The difference between Fremantle and Hawthorn early on was that the Dockers converted their chances, while the Hawks fluffed theirs.

After half-time, fresh legs and home ground advantage turned it into a rout.

It was a terrific effort by the Dockers, made all the sweeter for Mark Harvey given that it came without major contributions from Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands.

Instead it was the dash and excitement of David Mundy, Anthony Morabito and Stephen Hill, the superb defensive work of Luke McPharlin on Lance Franklin and the terrific blanket job by Adam McPhee on Luke Hodge that did the damage.

Hodge was clearly hobbled by the bruised knee suffered against the Dockers a fortnight ago, but McPhee was tremendous and on that performance alone is entitled to offer a nice, two fingered salute to those who question his move to the Dockers are the start of the season. He'll like where he is with his footy right now compared to his former teammates at Windy Hill.

Getting McPhee to the Dockers to provide some experience was one of a number of smart moves by Harvey. The week off a fortnight ago now appears to have been a stroke of genius, while he hasn't been afraid to throw big assignments at his younger players. They delivered for much of the season, tapered for a month or so but are now up and about again.

Sandilands appeared to hurt his knee in the second term and didn't contest a centre bounce thereafter. He played the game out, which is a good sign, but he'll need to do considerably more against the Cats next week for the Dockers to have a hope.

Pavlich offered no more than a few cameos. Leigh Matthews reckons he has a crook ankle and again, it is hard to see Fremantle pulling off the big upset unless he puts in a big one next week.

It is hard to understand why Pavlich hasn't put pen to paper on a new contract. Doubtless, Gold Coast has thrown a ton of cash at him, but if he stays with the Dockers he'll get to play a heap more home finals at Subiaco. Subiaco is now a cauldron again and the Dockers shape to be every bit as hard to beat there going forward as the Eagles were a few years back.

And it is has never been more clear which team now rules in Perth.

It's hard to imagine Geelong being particularly upset at the result. The Hawks give them fits every time, but the the Cats will fancy themselves against Fremantle at Etihad, MCG or wherever they choose to play it. Let's hope it's Etihad, because 35,000 at the MCG just won't seem like a final.

The Hawks fought it out, and the injury to Rioli just about cruelled whatever chance they had to get back into the game. But they're about to enter a challenging off-season. Two years after the premiership, they haven't backed up and you'd expect that Alastair Clarkson will shake the place up a bit.

Campbell Brown is off to the Gold Coast, we are led to believe and there might be a few other premiership players on the trade table as well, with the Hawks hoping to strike a deal while they have some currency.

He also needs to tinker with the gameplan and get the forward line working hard again. There's too much talent down there for too little reward.