Collingwood blew a chance to gain valuable AFL percentage as it beat Hawthorn by 45 points at the MCG on Friday night.

Hawthorn rallied after a woeful second half, while the Magpies failed to press their advantage on the way to a 16.17 (113) to 11.2 (68) win.

While Collingwood consolidated fourth spot five weeks from the finals, coach Mick Malthouse was clearly unhappy with the second half.

Collingwood key forward Travis Cloke helped set up the win with one his best AFL games, taking 12 marks and kicking two first-half goals.

Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley marked his 250th senior game with two goals and Joel Smith was among Hawthorn's best in his 200th.

But after a week of ongoing speculation about his playing future and whether he would return from a foot injury, Hawks ruckman Peter Everitt endured a dirty night.

The Hawks also lost key forward Trent Croad in the second quarter with apparent concussion after a collision with Collingwood's Ben Johnson.

It is understood Croad was taken by ambulance to hospital for observation.

Collingwood killed off the match in the first half, first restricting Hawthorn in the opening term to just one behind and then kicking the last five goals of the second term in as many minutes.

That gave the 'Pies a 56-point lead at the main break and they extended that to 11 goals during the third term.

But Hawthorn outscored Collingwood in the third term with three goals to two and also kicked the first two goals of the last quarter.

Malthouse was understandably enraged early in the last term as he yelled instructions through the intercom to the runner.

Young Hawks defender Zac Dawson again spent some of the game minding Anthony Rocca, repeating their much-publicised matchup earlier this season.

Dawson again worked hard, but again Rocca was just too strong for him and finished with four goals.

While Collingwood controlled the game, it was a night to forget for youngster Ben Davies.

In an embarrassing incident, he totally misjudged an attempt to take possession during the second term and was benched immediately.

Collingwood and Hawthorn made a late change apiece, with Leon Davis replacing Dale Thomas and John Barker coming in for fellow Hawks forward Mark Williams.

Davis was prolific with 24 touches, but trainers had to help him from the field in the last term after apparently suffering an ankle injury.

Collingwood's All-Australian defender James Clement left the field in the last term, but it looked to be nothing more serious than cramp.

Davis and Croad were spending the night in hospital, with the Collingwood forward on crutches after the game and the Hawks key position player very groggy at halftime.

Magpies officials were pessimistic about Davis and Malthouse admitted "I don't think it looks flash".

"It wouldn't matter if it was a broken ankle, twisted ankle or sprained ankle, you always miss a player like Leon Davis," Malthouse added.

Malthouse admitted youngster Ben Davies had made a mistake in the second term, but would not publicly criticise him.

"You mentioned Ben, did you not mention 17 or 18 kicks that (went) directly to the opposition when we had the ball," he said.

"I won't harp on it, I will leave that to you (media)."

Overall, Malthouse was pleased to beat Hawthorn and put his team one week closer to the finals.

"I will take 40-odd points every day of the week, that's all I'm worried about - getting a win, moving on to next week, playing Adelaide," he said.

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson bemoaned his side's disposal, especially in the first half.

"We were pretty poor at being able to find our targets and Collingwood scored seven goals (out of 11) in the first half from our turnovers," he said.

"When you turn the footy over in that sort of manner, then a handy side with powerful forwards is going to hurt you.

"To the credit of our guys, at least we addressed those sorts of things at half-time ... at least we came out in the second half and played a little bit better."

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