STEVEN King isn't getting carried away with Narrm's giant-killing season just yet, but he admits the Demons' 7-3 opening is a strong base to build from.

At the start of the year, many predicted the Demons would occupy space on the lower rungs of the ladder after consecutive 14th-placed finishes in the past two seasons, a new coach in charge, and two of the club's modern-day greats in Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver being traded out.

DEMONS v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats

But after 10 rounds King has his side sitting in fifth spot with strong wins against Brisbane, Gold Coast and now Hawthorn.

The Demons are also undefeated at the MCG in 2026 and played in front of a finals-sized crowd of 68,577 on Saturday.

"I dare to dream that our players believe they can win every game they play in, and today was no different," King said post-match.

"Internally our perception is we want to win every game of footy we play in."

With Petracca and Oliver departing, the Demons have been left with a blue-collar team, yet looked anything but boring against the Hawks, passing the 100-point total for the seventh time this season.

"I said from day one that I want to be a team that can kick a hundred points every game and challenge the opposition, and I hope we’re playing a brand of footy that even neutrals would come and watch, " King said. 

"So from my perspective, yeah, I want to be box office, I want our club to play on the big stage. I want to play in those games, and obviously we're going to have to keep doing it for a bit longer to get recognised in that manner. 

"I think our players love playing that brand of footy and when it gets rolling, it's hard to stop."

While King may seek "box office" status and is confident he has the players to get there, he knows the goal is reached through hard work and that his side has a long way to go before it will see its name up in lights.

"The game, you can make it as complex as you want," he said.

"We talk about Xs and Os a lot and our method, but at the end of the day you've got to roll your sleeves up and get to work and hunt. 

"I think us, as a footy club, where we're at and where we're coming from, if our hunt's not at the level then it's a harder game to play."

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell conceded that hunger was something his side lacked on Saturday as it fell to a second successive loss following its 'Wharfie time' capitulation to Fremantle in round nine.

"We pride ourselves on our workrate, and we got a lesson today," Mitchell said.

"They just looked a little bit more hungry than we did today, and you can't win many games at this level of footy if you're out-hunted by the opposition.

"It's been a long time since you would say that we've been genuinely outworked in a game."

Missing the injured Jack Gunston clearly cost the Hawks their preferred avenue to goal, although Mitch Lewis looked dangerous early and Calsher Dear worked to get opportunities that he subsequently wasted with poor kicking.

"Our potency going forward really struggled today. We weren't able to find scores going forward," Mitchell said.

"We found great ways to not score from forward entries, and they were really potent going the other way."

Asked if Gunston would make a difference the coach gave an exasperated smile.

"Of course someone like Jack will help us coming back, but that's not to say you need to rely on one player. I don't think any coach sits out there and says 'we rely heavily on this one player'," he said.

"We need to play system-based footy. There are some roles that are made for players' strengths, and when Jack's not there, other players are playing roles that suit them.

"We just weren’t able to execute them as well today."