Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse says the only sure way to stop Hawthorn's goal-kicking giant Lance Franklin is to cut off his supply.

Franklin has proved a thorn in the Magpies' side in their last three encounters, where he has amassed 18.10.

Against the Kangaroos last round he was back at his unstoppable best and got his team home, booting four last-quarter goals.

But Malthouse said Franklin couldn't do any damage if he didn't have the ball.

"It's magnificent ... he's six-foot-plenty, he's as fit as any player on the ground he's more talented than probably 95 per cent of (other) footballers," Malthouse said.

"It's very hard to stop a player like that.

"He's such a unique type of player, that anyone too short for him, anyone too slow for him, he's going to cut up.

"The sure-bet way of stopping him is don't let the ball get to him."

Malthouse said he was under no illusions about the task of taking on the defending AFL champions, despite their disappointing season.

The Magpies are in fourth position on the ladder and flying high after seven successive wins, while the injury-struck Hawks are battling in 10th spot.

However Malthouse was impressed by Hawthorn's courageous nine-point win over the Kangaroos in Launceston and said there were some danger signs for his club ahead of Saturday night's MCG clash.

"They played it pretty well," he said.

"The danger signs are that (Lance) Franklin got up and kicked four goals, (Sam) Mitchell got the ball to him and (Jordan) Lewis got the ball to him, (Brad) Sewell had plenty and their backline held up.

"As a consequence, they won the game.

"We're under no illusions, this is going to be a tough game of football."

Malthouse said his side had addressed Hawthorn's recent domination, winning by 65 and 54 points in the teams' two meetings last season.

"We recognise what took place last year, you can't dismiss it.

"Are we in better form than last year? Are they in the same form as last year?. Those components always take place.

"They don't build up points because they beat us twice last year - what happens is you take on board that they're very capable and play extremely well, we have to be better than them to beat them."

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson hoped his team's come-from-behind win over North would kick-start their season.

"Every team ebbs and flows in terms of injury and form ... Collingwood, at round eight they were three wins and five losses and everyone was writing them off as far as whether they'd even be a finals participant this year and they've won seven in a row," he said.

"They've been outstanding ... they've got a very deep midfield that they rotate a lot a lot of their forwards through.

"It's going to be a significant challenge, we feel like we've got a game and if we put it together we can certainly do well against them."

Meanwhile, Hawthorn's premiership defender Rick Ladson's season is over after undergoing more knee surgery on Thursday.

Ladson underwent pre-season surgery on his left knee and only managed three games before damaging his right.

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