JOSH Gibson insists Hawthorn's proud playing group will hit back and respond to the "reality check" from Greater Western Sydney when the Hawks face Richmond on Friday night.
The Hawks were monstered by emerging premiership threat GWS to the tune of 75 points on Saturday – their biggest defeat since an 88-point hiding from the Western Bulldogs way back in round 14, 2009.
Coming after successive last-gasp three-point wins over the Bulldogs, St Kilda and Adelaide, the hammering from the Giants has sparked questions about the end of Hawthorn's era of dominance.
But Gibson is confident the Hawks' best football still stacks up with the contenders for their throne.
"I've heard that (end of an era) every year, there's always going to be doubters, and for us it's about the four walls of this place, we have a system that we believe in and we know that we haven't been playing to the way we want to play," Gibson said.
"From inside here we believe we can still play good footy. We've shown it in patches this year, but the competition's so even you've got to play good footy week-in and week-out and four quarters of it, and that's something we haven't done of late.
"We've got a very proud group of players that want to get out there and rectify the situation.
"We know we haven't been playing great footy over the last few weeks and … on the weekend we got a reality check from a good side.
"We're fully aware the way we played on the weekend isn't acceptable."
Critics have pointed to Hawthorn's woeful contested possession record this season as a catalyst for the triple-defending premiers' issues.
Hawthorn is ranked 17th for contested possession (-15.5 per game) and has lost the hunt for the ball in five of the six matches this season.
The Giants exposed the Hawks with their hunger at the contest (+39) and dominated the clearances 47-29, putting Hawthorn's backline under extreme pressure.
"We're not going to shy away that we need to be better in that area," Gibson said.
"We just haven't been hungry enough the last few weeks.
"But I think you'll also see the way we play that contested ball's not always a contributing factor."
Alastair Clarkson's men are conceding almost 102 points per game and were split open by Greater Western Sydney, who booted a club record 158 points.
"It's got nothing to do with (losing retired full-back) Brian Lake, the way Hawthorn play we're a team defence," Gibson said.
"It's not just down to the back six – we obviously need to improve our area – but when we're at our best our team defence is strong.
"But we'll buckle down, we're not going to call Brian Lake and say we need him back, because that's not the answer to what's going on now."
Hawthorn's problems don't end at the contest and in defence.
The Hawks' once-abundant scoring has also suddenly dried up.
Hawthorn ranked No.1 for points on the way to four-straight Grand Finals from 2012-15, but forward line – minus Jarryd Roughead - is booting just 93 points per game (ninth in the AFL).
While the Hawks will be red-hot favourites to bounce back against struggling Richmond, Gibson said they need to be wary after losing to the Tigers in three of the past four meetings.
"Regardless of where both clubs are sitting on the ladder, Richmond have always taken it up to us and it's a great challenge," he said.
"We're hungry to get out there and fix the things we need to fix.
"That's our focus leading into this week, is getting Hawthorn's brand of footy back to the way we need to be playing."
