Hawthorn edged the Western Bulldogs by three points on Friday night in a highly-entertaining clash, with no more than 12 points separating the two teams for the entire evening.
But the Hawks, who have now won seven in a row to march to an 8-6 record, again got the job done in a tight tussle to entrench themselves inside the top eight.
With eight matches still to play this season is it possible the Hawks, who at one stage looked gone for 2010 with a 1-6 record, could be dreaming of a top-four spot?
“I don’t think so, no,” Renouf told afl.com.au after Friday night’s win.
“We’re just happy to keep winning games, and keep playing some good footy.”
Before its win over the Bulldogs, Hawthorn had edged Richmond, Sydney, Port Adelaide and Essendon in close-run matches. Renouf believed those games held his team in good stead when the going got tight in the final, gripping minutes of Friday night’s game.
“Obviously if they (close games) are a bit foreign to you, you don’t know what to do but we kept our composure and played to our game plan,” he said.
“We’ve had a few close games in the last seven or so weeks, only been winning by a goal or two.
“Personally I felt the game turned late in the last quarter and felt confident we could hold them out, but we’ve got to stop doing that to ourselves.”
Now, with their biggest scalp tucked away, the Hawks enter the most important month of their season with morale at season-high levels.
Hawthorn meets old foe Geelong at the MCG next Saturday afternoon in what promises to be another epic between the two clubs, while matches against the Brisbane Lions and St Kilda also await.
“We’ve [now] beaten a top-four side and it really gets the confidence up for the boys and I think that’s what’s really helping us at the moment, you know, believing we can go into a game and win it,” Renouf said.
“We’ve got Geelong next week, we’ve got an eight-day break, so hopefully we’ll be able to freshen up and give it a good crack.
“We always put up a good fight against them.
“Unfortunately since the grand final we haven’t been able to get the chocolates against them. We always push them pretty far and it always seems to be decided by only a couple of kicks, so hopefully we can get one back on them this weekend.
“We’re improving each week as we play and I think the exciting thing is we’ve still got some to come, so we’ll get our players out on the park and give it a good crack.”
