Three goals from Luke Breust have helped guide Hawthorn to a 21-point win over Carlton in the opening game of the AFL pre-season competition.
The reigning premiers on Thursday night posted an 8.5 (53) to 4.8 (32) NAB Challenge victory against the 2015 wooden spooners in Launceston.
Forward Breust also had 13 disposals and two clearances.
The Hawks took a swag of experience across Bass Strait, with big names Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Grant Birchall, Billy Hartung and others contributing in front of a 9181 crowd at Aurora Stadium.
Ruck recruit Jake Fitzpatrick, delisted by Melbourne, had a run in his new colours and finished with eight disposals, nine hit-outs and had a couple of unsuccessful shots at goal.
It wasn't all bad news for the Blues, looking to bounce back in 2016 with a fresh-looking line-up under the direction of new head coach Brendon Bolton.
Back from their last season injury woes, Nick Graham kicked two goals and Dale Thomas had 20 disposals.
Sam Kerridge finished with 28 disposals.
Carlton had named three of their top-12 draft picks to travel to Launceston but No.1 Jacob Weitering was left on the emergency players' list along with Harry McKay, while Charlie Curnow started on the bench.
All up, the Blues blooded seven youngsters on Thursday.
After a spirited start by Carlton, including a quarter-time lead, the Hawks were five points ahead at halftime after starting to show their dominance through the second quarter.
The lead was never threatened and had stretched to a 22-point margin by three-quarter time.
Standing in as Hawks coach, Adem Yze conceded his side struggled to find early intensity but picked up after the first break.
And while praising the experienced players, Yze said it was the young newcomers who pleased him most.
"Tim O'Brien and James Sicily in the forward line put their hand up for some more footy," he said, also singling out Dan Howe and Jonathan O'Rourke.
Bolton said his strategy to deliberately limit Carlton's rotations from the bench probably resulted in peaks and troughs in performance.
"We wanted to really push our players, make them endure, and I think that's why it's hard to maintain the consistency," he said, citing the Blues' 78 rotations compared to more than 130 for the Hawks.
"Part of the NAB Challenge is really being able to condition our players and we got that from them."
Share
