Bombers great Tim Watson has surprisingly declared that 2018 might have been Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson’s greatest performance.

Clarkson, a four-time premiership coach, guided the Hawks to a ‘three-peat’, winning three consecutive flags in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

In 2018, he steered the club to fourth place on the AFL ladder, before getting eliminated from the finals in straight sets.

However, Watson told SEN Breakfast on Tuesday that Hawthorn's achievements in 2018 with the players they had was a fantastic effort.

“I was thinking about this yesterday, all the things around them, their list at the moment, a couple of curve balls that got thrown their way last year as well,” Watson said.

“It may have been his greatest coaching performance, Alastair Clarkson, to finish where they did in the top four.”

Clarkson signed a four-year contract extension in 2018 to keep him at the Hawks until the end of 2022.