Sam Mitchell lauded Jack Gunston's unexpected on-field impact after the veteran forward kicked three crucial last-quarter goals to help Hawthorn strengthen their hold on an AFL top-four spot with a 35-point win over Melbourne.
Narrow leaders for most of the day, the Hawks stood up when it mattered most to secure a 13.13 (91) to 7.14 (56) triumph in front of 50,351 fans at the MCG on Saturday.
It was a victory more than seven years in the making, Hawthorn ending a run of nine matches against the Demons without a win.
Melbourne dominated contested possession and clearances, won the inside-50 count and had more scoring shots than their opponents through the opening three quarters.
But they repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with poor kicking at goal, and the Hawks made them pay with six majors to one in the decisive final term.
Gunston finished with three goals, Mabior Chol and Nick Watson kicked two each, and James Worpel (28 disposals, 10 tackles, six clearances) was outstanding in the middle.
Gunston is firmly in Coleman Medal contention with 23 goals from seven games this season, despite starting the year out of the Hawks' team.
The 33-year-old's match-winning burst in the final term came after he had kicked 0.3 to three-quarter time.
"The fact that he's having such a significant influence on the field is certainly not something that we planned for," Hawks coach Mitchell said of his three-time premiership teammate.
"From a list management point of view, we weren't thinking Jack Gunston will be our leading goal-kicker and this is how we'll progress forward.
"I'm absolutely rapt that he's doing that, but he still is having the same, if not more influence, off the field with what he's doing with the other forwards."
Melbourne livewire Kysaiah Pickett finished with 17 touches, nine tackles and two goals as one of his side's best, along with Christian Petracca (26 disposals).
First-year star Harvey Langford also shone for Melbourne with three goals from 22 disposals, while Jake Bowey (28 disposals) and Trent Rivers (23 touches, five clearances) impressed.
But Demons coach Simon Goodwin was left ruing his side's inaccuracy after their first defeat in a month, which left them nursing a 3-6 record.
"That was a bit of the story of the day really," Goodwin said.
"From an inefficiency perspective it wasn't just entry; I thought we had our chances to hit the scoreboard through shots.
"When we had our dominance in the second quarter we kicked two goals seven and missed some shots that we'd normally take.
"There was some inefficiency when we had that dominance to put some real scoreboard pressure on the Hawks."
Pickett was controversially denied a free kick when umpires failed to penalise Blake Hardwick for a blatant trip in the goal square during the second term.
"Sometimes things get missed. That's OK, it's like us missing our set shots," Goodwin said.
"You've got to take your opportunities and we all make mistakes out there, but we've got to move forward.
"We didn't lose the game because of that; we lost the game because we weren't able to take our opportunities when we had them."
