Eight good reasons to be fearful Hawthorn has secured the top spot with a 56-point win against Essendon at Etihad Stadium. Hawthorn's Lance Franklin celebrates one of his eight goals against Essendon at Etihad Stadium last night. PERHAPS Lance Franklin felt slighted by James Hird's quip that he did not scare Essendon. Maybe it was simply the sight of the red and black of a Hawthorn enemy that quickened his pulse. More likely it was the release of frustration at being allowed to menace a game again in his return from two weeks out with knee soreness. Regardless, a magnificent eight goals from Franklin helped a dominant Hawthorn defeat Essendon by 56 points in the top-of-the-table clash at Etihad Stadium. In doing so, the flag favourites made the second-placed Essendon look second rate, with too many Bombers - Nick Kommer a chief offender - interested in petty off-the-ball activities in what was a spiteful clash. About the only thing Essendon can boast of is kicking the first goal of each term. An ordinary weekend on the field looks likely to follow what has been an awful week off it. If Geelong and Sydney win as expected, the Bombers will slip to fourth, with Fremantle also likely to be only two points behind them by tomorrow night. While Bombers chairman David Evans last night told the Essendon faithful Hird had "been a 20-year friend of mine and he'll be a friend for the next 20 years as well," the rumblings of a divide at Windy Hill are strong amid the ASADA investigation. Evans, who declared "there is no rift" at a pre-match dinner function, nonetheless conceded it had been another shocking week in a season of turmoil. It would be ridiculous of me to stand here and say it's been a good week. You all know it's been pretty tough," he said. That speech came before his side was walloped. Hird seemingly tempted fate by declaring on Thursday his side held no fear of Franklin. To be fair, the Essendon coach followed that by saying it was hard to see how his side could fare any worse than its two most recent efforts against Hawthorn - including a 94-point mauling last year when the spearhead was absent. Despite a promising opening by the Bombers, who kicked the first two goals, Franklin managed to haul his side to the front by quarter-time courtesy of three goals. Being felled by direct opponent Jake Carlisle soon after kicking his first goal seemed only to goad Franklin, who set about destroying the Bombers. The dislike - not that it needed any enhancement given the natural antipathy the teams share of each other - prompted Franklin's partner in crime, Jarryd Roughead, to mock Carlisle later in the term when the champion kicked his second. A third for the term to Franklin, set up by a chipped pass from Cyril Rioli, had the Hawks in front for the first time. When Jack Gunston kicked accurately after the siren, all but defenders Brian Lake and Josh Gibson dashed to him to congratulate, with the Hawks clearly inspired. If the first term was a shootout, the match tightened in the second term. It took 13 minutes for Michael Hurley to open proceedings, but that only allowed Rioli to respond with a magnificent dash from the centre-square ball-up. From there the Hawks were dominant, with Franklin's fourth an example of his side's superiority across the ground. After gathering the ball on the bounce in front of Carlisle, Franklin wheeled on to his left foot, shook off a lunging Bomber and thumped a wobbling snap from just inside the 50m mark. Franklin, who is yet to declare that he will remain a Hawk amid an offer from Greater Western Sydney reportedly worth $12 million over six seasons, kicked one in the third term before finishing with three for the final quarter. HAWTHORN 6.1 10.6 16.10 22.11 (143) ESSENDON 4.3 5.4 9.6 13.9 (87) Goals: Hawthorn: L Franklin 8 J Roughead 4 J Gunston 2 J Lewis 2 L Breust 2 P Puopolo 2 C Rioli D Hale. Essendon: M Hurley 3 T Bellchambers 2 B Goddard B Stanton C Dell'Olio D Myers L Jetta N Kommer P Ryder T Colyer. Umpires: Jacob Mollison, Mathew Nicholls, Shane McInerney. Official crowd: 49,505 at Etihad Stadium.