Young Hawthorn star Lance Franklin has basked in the same AFL spotlight that earlier this week had threatened to roast him.

Franklin kicked nine goals, equalling his best haul in a game, as the Hawks broke clear of Essendon in the second half to beat them by 51 points at Telstra Dome.

He finished with 9.4 as the Hawks recovered from last week's first loss of the season to win 19.16 (130) to 12.7 (79).

The Hawks strongly defended Franklin earlier this week after allegations he had misbehaved on the weekend at a Melbourne nightclub.

Vice-captain Luke Hodge also starred as he returned from a hamstring injury and surgery to remove his appendix.

But the Hawks lost onballer Chance Bateman, another of their best, with a leg injury in the last term.

When Angus Monfries kicked a goal in the opening minute of the second half to bring Essendon to within one point, Hawthorn went up a gear.

The Hawks kicked five of the next six goals for a comfortable 34-point margin at the last change.

They were far from their best in the first half against a disciplined effort from Essendon, but overwhelmed the Bombers in the second half.

Hawks skipper Sam Mitchell needed to leave the ground briefly during the second quarter.

Team-mates remonstrated with Mitchell's direct opponent, Andrew Welsh, after what appeared to be an off-the-ball incident.

Andrew Lovett impressed for the Bombers and Scott Lucas kicked three goals in the second term of his 250th game.

But even when they drew to within a point at the start of the third quarter, a massive upset looked highly unlikely.

Hawks ruckman Simon Taylor did plenty of strong work as his side took control of the midfield and piled the pressure on the Bombers.

Clarkson has repeatedly said he does not want to build up Franklin too much and laughed when reminded of this post-match.

"It's hard to keep things low-key when a bloke kicks nine goals," Clarkson said.

"He's a tremendously resilient player, both in the way he handles things on the field and the pressure he's under, because they (the opposition) know he's the key target for us up forward ... he's also remarkably resilient off the field.

"It hasn't been an easy for him in terms of the publicity, but he's got a tremendous attitude towards his training, he loves his footy club, he loves his team-mates and that was reflected in the manner that he handled (tonight) - it was first class."

While Franklin and Hodge were the stand-outs, Clarkson also praised ruckmen Robert Campbell and Simon Taylor for consistently giving the Hawks midfielders first use of the ball.

Campbell had to leave the field in the first half to have treatment for a cut knee, but the pair combined well and were vital as the Hawks finally broke free of Essendon.

"After half-time, I thought the work of Campbell and Taylor in particular ... really gave us first look at the footy," Clarkson said.

"We won the stoppages convincingly over the course of the night, it means the ball is played in your forward line more than the opposition's and that's critical.

"It really helps if we can get in there (the forward line) quickly."

Clarkson also heaped praise on Hodge, who only played about 70 per cent of the game, describing him as a "warrior" "It's not just that he's a talented footballer, (it's also) his leadership, direction and courage," Clarkson said.

Essendon coach Matthew Knights lamented his team's inability to make the most of their early opportunities.

The Bombers should have been at least three goals up at the start of the game, but butchered a couple of easy chances.

"We executed really well in the first half, we were generating a great deal of energy, we were also getting good ball inside 50," he said.

"It's probably even fair to say that we didn't take some opportunities that presented early.

"In the second half it was basically the opposite, we didn't take the game on, we became stagnant."

He also said young key defender Paddy Ryder, who played on Franklin for much of the game, was often cruelled by bad errors further up the ground that meant the Hawks moved the ball quickly into attack.

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