Coming off an eight-point loss to the Gold Coast Suns in Darwin, Hawthorn face another massive challenge, taking on reigning premiers Brisbane in an enticing clash at the MCG.
The Hawks, who are currently sitting at 7-3 after 10 rounds, will look to bring back a host of players for the important clash, with Lloyd Meek, Jack Gunston, Jarman Impey and Conor Nash all available for selection.
Coach Sam Mitchell spoke about the need to find consistency when playing against the best in the competition, with the Hawks currently having beaten only one side in the top eight so far this season.
"We look at the last 12 months and we are making progress, but we can't yet beat the best sides on a consistent basis", Mitchell said before main training at Hawthorn's Bunjil Bagora facilities.
"We're going to need to be able to. It's a long season and there's ebbs and flows, and you need to make sure you are in it for the long haul.
"We've put ourselves in a good position but Brisbane are a big test. It's another opportunity for us against a top four side to play and see where we are at."
The Hawks will look to bring back a host of experienced players for the important clash, with Meek, Gunston, Impey and Nash all likely to return.
Mitchell spoke about the difficulty of match selection ahead of Round 11, with the Hawks needing to secure the win to keep their spot in the top four ahead of a run of tough games before their mid-season bye.
The Hawks know that the challenge this week will be tough, especially having to combat a Brisbane midfield that includes the likes of Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley and the Ashcroft brothers.
The Hawks lost clearances against the Suns last week by 15 and have struggled without star midfielder Will Day, who was walking around the track at Waverley Park as he recovers from surgery on his fractured navicular, but Mitchell is confident the Hawks can get the mix right for this weekend.
"It's going to be a huge battle. We know it is going to be an important part," he said.
"Getting the ball into your front half against a side like Brisbane is vital, so you know we need to work out exactly the strategy and structure that we have.
"They've got so many talented suppliers, whether we go after one or two of those individually, or whether we look at the collective system to try to create some clearance dominance for us is going to be important.
"What we need to do is throw our own punches and make sure we're playing in an assertive and offensive way as well, to try and create some problems for them."
The Hawks, who are currently leading the competition in marks inside 50 per game, are aware of the challenge of the Brisbane Lions backline, with Harris Andrews and Jack Payne's intercept marking being a focus that the Hawks will look to nullify.
"Their intercept marking has been really good," the Hawks coach added.
"I think when you play against Harris Andrews, over the past 10 years, he has been one of the best players to watch and one of the most frustrating players to coach against.
"He's been a dominant force in the league for the past decade nearly and he's going to be a challenge for us.
"Payney has really started to come into his own in the last 18 months.
"I think their stability has been really strong and they tend to be really hard to score against.
"Jack (Gunston) coming back into the side will hopefully help, as he gives us a little bit of a different look in the front half, which we probably missed last week."
Coming off a record membership announcement of over 83,000 members, Mitchell expressed his excitement to see a big crowd on Saturday, with the Hawks looking to continue their winning streak against the Lions, which currently stands at five.
"I couldn't be more proud of the Hawthorn faithful. Right from the beginning four years ago when I came into the role, there were some pretty dark days in there," he said.
"The support has been really enormous since and shows the growth and the people supporting us in our journey and are on board.
"The fan numbers we have had out at our games has been first class of what people expect.
"I'm sure it'll be the same thing on the weekend against the reigning premiers in Brisbane and looking forward to seeing lots of brown and gold in the stands."
