Hawthorn were tested but were still able to celebrate as they defeated Gold Coast Suns 10.10 (70) to 8.15 (63) at UTAS Stadium.
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The Hawks honoured Peter Hudson by naming the Southern end after him.
They also celebrated skipper Ben McEvoy's 250th game as a crowd of more than 9000 saw Jack Gunston kick five goals.
The victory wasn't without some challenge, however, with the Suns getting within a goal in the final quarter before the Hawks held on.
McEvoy was there for the big moments in his milestone game, taking a big defensive mark within the dying minutes, much to the delight of coach Sam Mitchell.
"I was rapt for Big Boy to be able to take that catch at the end and to have a couple of moments and be so influential," Mitchell said.
"For him to have his family here, he mentioned it to the boys after the game that it just makes it that much more special.
"He's not a player who's ever shied away from being in the spotlight, he's always in the key moments. I think when you're a ruckman that's a key part of your role is to be the big powerful influence."
Gunston was influential throughout, getting the Hawks off to a strong start with the first two goals of the match despite them kicking against the breeze.
They led by eight at the first break and extended it to 21 points at half-time as the former Crow added two more and handballed one out to the running Josh Ward in the second quarter.
Both sides added two goals in the third quarter but it seemed the Hawks were going to hold on, kicking with the wind.
The Suns had other plans as Nick Holman goaled in the opening minutes but they couldn't convert their chances, with crucial misses to key forwards Levi Casboult and Mabior Chol as well as Mac Andrew and David Swallow hurting them.
Reflecting on the contest, coach Stuart Dew was left to rue those chances and the slow start.
"Our starts have been poor and we did it again, we waited to see what the opposition had," he said.
"Our last quarter was dominant, we won the second half .... but I think we are all sick of sounding like a broken record with giving teams head starts and trying to catch."
After a "really stagnant" start, Dew's Suns won the second half, with the recently re-signed coach saying they "took the game on".
"We were stagnant [early] and played into their hands and I think from there, we end up having to fold back.
"We think we've won [the ball] and then we turn it over, the ground is really big and we left it open so we need to make sure that we take better care with the ball by hand and by foot."
Both coaches were impressed with the work of some of their younger players, as Finn Maginness stood up for Hawthorn and Elijah Hollands for Gold Coast in just his third game.
Maginness played on Suns star Touk Miller, keeping him to 21 disposals.
"Touk is a genuine A-grade player and he kept him to three uncontested possessions for the game and when you can play on a player that's as dominant across the competition as Touk, I think he'll take a lot of confidence out of that," Mitchell said.
"Giving him that ability to play on someone and take an opposition A-grader out of the game, I think really frees up some of our other players to play well, which they really appreciate."
Hollands, who was picked up in the 2020 draft after tearing his ACL, collected 23 disposals, nine marks and two goals.
"Elijah's had a really good grounding, a good foundation to be able to come in and not just get a couple of games and go back out. He's come in and he's delivered what we're after," Dew said.
"He knows where the goals are, he's flexible and he can play multiple positions so we are really pleased."
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