In a top-two clash that was effectively over by the second quarter, Hinds booted three goals from 25 touches and appeared none the rustier for a two-week suspension.

"I couldn't have been more impressed with the way he went about it," Thorp said in the wake of a fifth-straight 50-point-plus demolition.

"He works both ways, he supports the defence, tackles really hard and hits the scoreboard so he's a really rounded midfielder.

"I've certainly got him right up there - I think Jobi Harper's still the premier mid in the comp even though we haven't been able to use him yet this year. He's still probably fractionally behind Jobi but I tell you what, he's closing pretty quickly."

MORE FOOTBALL: North Launceston scrappy but happy

Sonny Whiting does it again with 11 in the NTFA

Chayce Jones edging closer to AFL return

Second on the ladder heading into the Bellerive Oval summit meeting, Clarence swung the biggest of late changes with Luke Swinton, who famously kicked the winning goal in last season's three-goal soccerfest at Windsor Park, replacing superstar forward Colin Garland.

Saturday's match took just two minutes to indicate it would be a more colourful affair as Josh Green's infringement on Casey Brown resulted in a Blues goal.

From there, Launceston would utterly dominate play, reaching 9.1 (55) midway through the second quarter before Clarence was able to register its first scoring shot, a tumbling goal from Colby Whitelaw.

The Roos players looked panicky on the ball, regularly coughing up easy marks to Hinds, Zach Morris and Jack Tuthill while the Blues were ruthless on the counterattack.

Michael Musicka (four majors) had his best day in front of goal since returning from East Coast while Dylan Riley continued his outstanding form with desperate tackling, clever assists and a bag of four.

Clarence fought back to win the the third term but the scoreboard - 17.8 (110) to 5.8 (38) - finished emphatically in the Blues' favour.

"We were really pleased with our defensive pressure, we got the ball back quite a bit from turnover and we hit the scoreboard accordingly," Thorp said.

"Our defenders today were terrific - Tuthill, Morris and [Alec] Wright were just instrumental in getting the ball back, they killed the ball in the air, they intercept marked really well and had a really good day the boys behind the footy.

"It's nice to find different ways to score - the last couple of weeks it's been the midfield group that've been really prolific and today it was our half-back line that really rebounded off half-back and gave us some really nice entries inside 50."

Brodie Palfreyman continued to make the most of his chance in the midfield, racking up 25 touches, seven tackles and a goal, but it was ruckman Joe Groenewegen who topped the stats sheet with 29 disposals.

Playing his first game of 2021, 209cm Roos giant Ole Angerstein regularly won the hit-outs but was outdone around the ground.

"We knew they were going to have a really big skyscraper in the ruck, he's a huge guy but we thought around the ground Joe would really get to work and sure enough he did," Thorp said.

"He had a super game, that just meant that Hamish [Leedham] didn't quite get as much game time and played a little bit forward because we knew aerobically Joe would have a good day."

The win puts Launceston two games clear with a percentage of 323.33, but Thorp reiterated that the year had a long way to go.

"The teams are going to change as the year goes on - Colin Garland and Jeromey Webberley didn't play today for them, Fletcher Seymour and Jobi Harper didn't play for us, so I think the teams will change quite a bit as the year goes on, it's quite a long season and I expect Clarence to really improve.

"They've got some new players to the club and you could tell today they were still trying to work through where to play them and those sort of things."

Launceston 6.1, 11.1, 13.5, 17.8 (110)

Clarence 0.0, 1.2, 4.6, 5.8 (38)