Hawthorn cannot wait for Will Day to pull on the brown and gold stripes, which by their own admission, could be before the club's Round 14 bye.
Day has been recovering from a shoulder dislocation in the pre-season, following on from persistent foot issues that have plagued him over the past three years.
On Thursday night, the Hawks were overwhelmed and trounced by a much superior Fremantle midfield, who turned a 22-point deficit midway through the third term into a 15-point victory.
But as most contests are, the outcome was determined at the source. On the night, the Dockers won the clearance count (41-29), as well as the centre square (13-9), but dramatically turned the tides in the final term.
The hosts won clearances on 75 percent of occasions (12-4), ultimately dominating field position and turning the assertion on the scoreboard with 5.5 to the Hawks' solitary major.
Luke Jackson, along with established midfielders Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw and Matthew Johnson held the upper hand, which was only enhanced by Shai Bolton and Hayden Young.
From a Hawthorn perspective, its heavy reliance on Jai Newcombe and Conor Nash (both 81 percent CBA) was too much to bare, and was submerged by the Dockers.
The likes of Connor MacDonald, Nick Watson, Dylan Moore, Josh Ward and Cam Mackenzie all contribute, but when the whips are cracking, will they rise to the occasion?
Will they be able to go toe-to-toe with Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage? Or Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and James Rowbottom?
The Hawks attempted to address their midfield woes, which were intensified by the departure of free agent James Worpel, by trying to land Essendon captain Zach Merrett.
They were close, but no cigar.
Sam Mitchell, in spite of Day's absence, has largely put together a successful midfield mix, ranking fourth in clearance differential (+2.7).
But they need variety, and the injury-prone star should be able to provide it.
"He fully trained with full contact and did every drill with the group (this week). He's training really well, feeling really good. He's been prepared really well by Jack Price and Zane Leonard, our S&C coach and rehab coordinator," Hawthorn high performance manager Peter Burge said.
"He's gone through a fair process of reconditioning, and now we're really in the final stages of full training and putting back-to-back sessions together as well as topping him up with some extra conditioning at match level conditions."
Hawthorn has listed Day as 2-3 weeks away, and with a VFL stint in mind, his return is highly anticipated.
