Collingwood’s late-season wobbles have continued with a nightmare loss to Hawthorn on Thursday night.

The Pies were rocked by a sickening concussion to much-loved defender Jeremy Howe in the opening minute and never recovered as the Hawks piled on the goals.

A seven-goal second term laid the platform for Hawthorn’s 17.8 (110) to 6.10 (46) victory that will have significant finals implications.

The Magpies remain in second place, but could drop to fourth by the end of the round ahead of next week’s monster clash against Adelaide.

After looking certainties to finish top, they have now lost four of their past five matches.

The 64-point margin was the second worst of Craig McRae’s coaching career, just edging out the 66-point loss to the Hawks last year.

Channel 7 commentators Kane Cornes and Luke Hodge are concerned about Collingwood with just two weeks before finals.

“Pretty concerned now. I was concerned by what I saw in the second half last week, their inability to score and the way that Brisbane beat them up around the ball,” Cornes said.

“And then you thought there would be that response. We saw Brisbane having a down one against Gold Coast the week prior to the Collingwood game.

“Good teams respond. I was expecting that from Collingwood tonight.

“Clearly Jeremy Howe getting knocked out in the first minute of the game isn’t ideal and that hurt their structures, but they have got so many issues with their game now.”

Hodge highlighted how their much-vaunted defence was picked apart by the ruthless Hawks.

“(Craig McRae) spoke about halfway through the year that the whole off-season was about being in sync defensively and playing as a unit,” he said.

“Tonight was not that at all, blokes would squeeze up and others would drop back. A couple of them would fly, they wouldn’t kill the ball.

“It just looks like they’ve got a lack of confidence working in that defensive system.”

Nick Riewoldt raised concerns around superstar Nick Daicos, who surprisingly started the game on the bench and fumbled his first touch when he finally came on.

“I think there are some concerns for the Pies that are pretty serious,” he said.

“We saw things tonight that we just have not seen, especially from Nick Daicos. The first one being that he started on the bench ... with the Jeremy Howe injury early, it meant he was off for 15 minutes ... we never see him start on the bench and we never see him fumble like that.

“There are a lot of what ifs with Collingwood at the moment.”

The win ensures Hawthorn (14-7) will retain a spot in the top eight for at least another week, ahead of clashes with Melbourne and the third-placed Brisbane Lions to complete the home-and-away season.

After the dramatic start that saw Howe subbed out, Nick Watson’s two early goals gave Hawthorn a narrow quarter-time advantage.

They took complete control in a scintillating second term, piling on 7.0 to 1.3 to lead by 39 points at the main break.

Jai Newcombe importantly kicked the opening goal of the second half to reassert the Hawks’ authority and they powered clear for a convincing win in front of 68,515 fans.

The margin gave their percentage a significant boost - from 117.6 to 121.2 - which could be important in a tight finals race.

Hawks ruckman Lloyd Meek kicked three goals in an outstanding display, with Watson a constant threat in the forward-line and captain James Sicily important in a tight defensive unit.

Jack Gunston (four goals) and Mabior Chol (three) were dangerous, and Jack Ginnivan (27 disposals) was busy without hitting the scoreboard against his former club.

Collingwood’s heavy defeat was a disappointing way for club great Steele Sidebottom to mark his 350-game milestone.

- With AAP