HAWTHORN made a mess of Melbourne in round four, kicking 16 of the last 17 goals to salute by 67 points on a miserably wet Sunday afternoon at the MCG.

The match marked David Mirra's first AFL game, Demon Christian Salem's 50th, versatile defender Ben Stratton's 150th and former Hawk superstar Cyril Rioli's last (at least for now).

It was Melbourne's biggest loss of the year – ahead of the 46-point defeat to Richmond the next week – and Hawthorn's second-largest winning margin, behind the 72-point demolition of Carlton.

The Hawks laid a season-high 113 tackles to the Demons' 74 and won the clearances, 56-38, despite Ben McEvoy losing the hit-out battle, 72-34, to All Australian ruckman Max Gawn.

Melbourne ranks fourth in the competition for clearance differential compared to Hawthorn's ninth, and has lost that statistic only seven times in 23 matches.

More remarkable was the Hawks lost James Frawley (migraine) for the second term and were without Rioli (knee) and Paul Puopolo (hamstring) after half-time and three-quarter time, respectively.

Their 18.7 (115) scoreline, which dwarfed the Demons' wasteful 6.12 (48) – Tom Bugg kicked four behinds without a goal – was their third-highest tally in 2018 and defied the conditions.

This was an outlier result in so many ways.

Eyebrows were raised from the time Melbourne started without wingmen at the centre bounces, on top of using 185cm James Harmes to support 208cm giant Gawn in the ruck.

But there was at least one common denominator: a Hawthorn victory, the 15th in the past 16 meetings between the clubs.

Their next clash is on Friday night, back at the MCG, but this time in a knockout semi-final that offers the winner a preliminary final berth.

So will the teams' most recent showdown count for much, or anything, in the first final between them in 28 years?

The Demons look set to field seven different players – almost one-third of their line-up – on Friday night from that April afternoon, while the Hawks are likely to have four changes.

MELBOURNE (assuming no change from last week)
In: Mitch Hannan, Tom McDonald, Charlie Spargo, Dom Tyson, Aaron vandenBerg, Jack Viney, Sam Weideman
Out: Tom Bugg, Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent, Jake Lever, Bernie Vince, Josh Wagner

HAWTHORN (assuming David Mirra and Taylor Duryea come in for Ben Stratton and Conor Nash)
In: Shaun Burgoyne, Ryan Burton, Jon Ceglar, James Worpel
Out: Conor Glass, Tim O'Brien, Cyril Rioli, Ben Stratton

Melbourne boasts the competition's most potent offence, yet its forward line will be unrecognisable from that Hawthorn hiding.

Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent, Jeff Garlett and Tom Bugg played in attack that day, whereas Tom McDonald, Sam Weideman, Mitch Hannan, Charlie Spargo and Aaron vandenBerg are in there now.

Weideman is fresh from a breakout finals debut against Geelong, where he amassed three goals from 24 disposals in arguably a best-on-ground performance.

Only five players have kicked more than McDonald's 49 majors in 2018, while Jake Melksham failed to kick a goal in the first four rounds but ended the season stiff not to be an All Australian nominee.

The Demons won't have star defender Jake Lever (knee), and the Hawks will sorely miss their own gun backman, Stratton (hamstring).

But Hawthorn will have the services this time of Shaun Burgoyne, Ryan Burton, James Worpel and Jon Ceglar, who will back up McEvoy in an upgrade from Tim O'Brien and Jarryd Roughead.

The midfield, as it was in the last game, will be pivotal – and a new cast of players will duke it out in the centre square.

Nathan Jones, Salem and Christian Petracca attended 50 centre bounces among them against the Hawks, but combined for just 31 in Melbourne's past three victories.

Instead, Harmes, Angus Brayshaw and Jack Viney, who returned from a toe injury last week, mostly partner Gawn and Clayton Oliver in the centre cauldron.

Salem and Bayley Fritsch have gone into defence, where their kicking skills are taken advantage of, while retirement-bound Bernie Vince fell out of favour even before hurting his AC joint.