Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson could afford to joke about club president Jeff Kennett and goalkicking practice after their 45-point AFL win over Melbourne.

The Hawks ensured their woeful scoring inaccuracy did not count by smashing Melbourne in the second half on Sunday night at the MCG, winning 16.26 (122) to 12.5 (77).

But when they were 3.13 at halftime and 19 points behind, it was no laughing matter.

"Our field kicking was okay, but our shots for goal were deplorable, so we'll probably have Jeffrey Gibb down there giving us goalkicking rehearsal through the course of the week," Clarkson said of his outspoken club president.

Clarkson noted that at halftime, most of Hawthorn's indicators were in their favour, except the one that matters most - the scoreboard.

"(I wasn't) overly comfortable, all it takes in that situation is for Melbourne to start winning a few more clearances and a bit more contested ball, that margin can spread out a bit too much," he said.

As it happened, the Hawks put Melbourne away with 8.11 to 1.1 in the third quarter.

They had been 27 points down midway through the second term, meaning they staged a 72-point turnaround.

In the end, the raw statistics were telling - 42 scoring shots to 17 and an overall possession count of 452 to 309.

Equally telling was the dark mood of Melbourne coach Dean Bailey in his post-game media conference.

He could not think of one Melbourne player who did well over four quarters.

Bailey noted Hawthorn could easily have blown his side away in the first term, where they started with 1.6 to a single behind.

"We were simply outplayed - pick an area on the ground," he said.

"We were very disappointing in too many areas of the game - the first half, we were lucky to be in the game, but certainly the second half absolutely stood out."

Cyril Rioli was best afield and Clarkson described it as one of the skilled midfielder's best four-quarter performances.

But Rioli will also come under video review for elbowing Nathan Jones in the second term, which left the Demon winded.

Matt Suckling also stood out in his eighth game, kicking two vital goals in the third term.

It was Hawthorn's seventh-straight win over the Demons and Bailey called the Hawks a potential top-four team this season.

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