A few observations from Hawthorn's 12-point win over Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

- The Blues will be happy to see the back of Etihad Stadium for the year, It's their home ground, but with their run and spread, they are clearly better suited to the MCG. They've won just five of nine there this year.

- With the strong likelihood that all four finals in the opening week will be in Melbourne, the AFL will have to play at least one of them at Etihad. The Blues will want to be at the MCG, but if they were to play Freo, Sydney or North, Etihad would work better from a crowd perspective. St Kilda and Essendon might like to play there, but could draw 70,000 to the MCG.

- How does Sam Mitchell not get a free kick in front of goal after being clothes-lined in the third quarter?

- Jordan Lewis showed why he is the vice-captain of the Hawks with a polished 30-touch display and the scalp of Chris Judd. It wasn't a hard tag as such, more just making the Carlton skipper more accountable and he did so brilliantly. Judd had just 15 possessions of his own.

- Hawthorn's first half was imperious. Not sure what to make of the second half, though. The Hawks stopped running and didn't win enough clearances. They also looked tired coming off their second consecutive six-day break.

- Marc Murphy did well for the Blues, but Judd, Kade Simpson and Bryce Gibbs didn't do nearly enough in the first half. Hence the 38-point deficit at half-time. But Brett Ratten coached well in the second half, throwing his team around. Michael Jamison to full-forward posed some problems for the Hawks, as did Chris Yarran, who was probably his team's best player for the night.

- Isaac Smith is a wonderful player and gives the Hawks precisely the outside leg speed they have missed the last few years. His match-sealing goal in the final term was outstanding. Smith likes Etihad Stadium and it was his eye-catching performance there in the VFL Grand Final last year that rocketed him into the first round of last year's draft. He was compared at the time to Freo's Stephen Hill; he might have actually had a better year.

- For the Hawks, it is now all about their almost certain qualifying final at the MCG in three weeks against Geelong. The Hawks will likely take a strong side into next Saturday's MCG clash with the Western Bulldogs, but the temptation to rest a few bodies against Gold Coast the following weekend will be strong.