HAWTHORN skipper Luke Hodge has sounded a clear warning to the rest of the competition that the reigning premiers have plenty of room for improvement.
Hodge said the Hawks "battled" to their fourth-straight win on Saturday – even though they registered a comfortable 29-point win against fellow top-four contender Collingwood at the MCG.
With a rapidly diminishing injury list and the prospect of senior coach Alastair Clarkson returning in coming weeks, the second-placed Hawks are making a mockery of predictions of their demise as a flag contender.
"We've been able to get some good wins the past month or so. We've always had confidence in the guys that we've brought up to play," Hodge said on Monday.
"I think it's fair to say that we haven't played the best footy we have this year. But throughout the middle stages of the year you've got to make sure you keep chalking up the wins and do it without losing any more players."
The Hawks cleared one hurdle against the Pies, but still face one of the toughest runs home of any finals contender.
Hawthorn's next challenge will be Gary Ablett's rising Gold Coast outfit at the Hawks' Aurora Stadium fortress in Launceston on Saturday afternoon.
The Suns claimed the biggest scalp in their history when they upset Geelong on Saturday and Hodge expects a much tougher challenge than when the Hawks steamrolled Gold Coast by 99 points in round four at Metricon Stadium.
"They've got their main tall guys back, which they didn't have last time we played," Hodge said.
"It's definitely not going to be the same as what we had it up there. It might be a bit colder down in Tassie on Saturday afternoon.
"If they can play the same way that they did against Geelong on the weekend we're going to be up for a battle."
The Hawks' match committee has some tough calls to make this week after Ben McEvoy booted five goals for Box Hill and Ben Stratton returned from injury in the VFL.
Developing ruckman Jonathon Ceglar impressed against Collingwood, while Matt Spangher and Angus Litherland were also rock-solid in defence.
"'Cegs' has played some fantastic footy the last three or four weeks. (It's) great for Benny McEvoy ... what we're after is as many players playing well to put pressure on the coaching staff. They'll have a few big decisions to make this week," Hodge said.
"From all reports (Stratton) got through OK, but it's up to the fitness staff and the coaching staff ... mind you, the younger guys that played in defence on the weekend and in the past month have been very good as well."
Although Clarkson is on the mend from Guillain-Barre syndrome, the Hawks have had an almost seamless transition under interim coach Brendon Bolton, who Hodge believes has shown the quality to be a senior coach.
"Without a doubt. I put 'Bolts' in with our other coaches as well, they've all had to step up," Hodge said.
"I think 'Fages' (football manager Chris Fagan) has delegated the roles very well amongst the coaching staff and they've all been very impressive the past month."
