Hawthorn has welcomed NRL legend Cameron Smith through their doors in a bid to equip them with the required tools to handle the big moments.

Smith has ventured down to the Hawks before under the tutelage of Alastair Clarkson, with the Melbourne Storm icon striking a strong relationship with the club, seeing "a lot of similarities" between the two organisations.

Now, Sam Mitchell has leaned on the 42-year-old to ready his charges as they make a run towards September.

The Hawks returned to finals football last year after a five-year hiatus, and narrowly fell short of the penultimate weekend after losing to Port Adelaide by three points.

"They just wanted to pick my brain about a few things," Smith said.

"I spoke with the leadership group briefly before speaking with the entire squad. And it was mainly around my experiences through State of Origin, playing big games, big moments, playing with the Melbourne Storm.

"Just some things around handling pressure, handling games in big moments. How to get the best out of yourself as an individual, as a group, timing your run for big games and finals."

Hawthorn sits in fifth position after an impressive month of football that has yielded four consecutive victories.

The difference between second and ninth spot on the ladder is six premiership points, with Collingwood holding a discernible lead on top from the chasers.

 Saturday, July 12 
Fremantle WON BY 13 POINTS
Optus Stadium
FRE   
77
FT
64
   HAW

The Hawks will travel west to take on Fremantle in a top-nine clash at Optus Stadium in a bid to push for a top-four spot.

Key forward Mabior Chol spoke on the takings from Smith's appearance at the Hawks.

"As a playing group, we've learnt so much about his mindset, how he deals with big games," Chol said.

"What he spoke about mainly was how he prepped for games. I think one thing that stood out to me was, no matter how you're feeling during the week, you can still rock up and be the best version of yourself. And when it comes to game time, just go out there.

"We want to time our run perfectly, so when finals do come around, we hit that up and running."

The stage is set for Game 3 of the NRL's State of Origin at Stadium Australia on Wednesday.

The marquee round robin has been a staple of the rugby code for over 100 years, and has arguably a greater emphasis than the regular season.

The AFL had its own version of interstate clashes, beginning in 1977 and was scrapped before the turn of the century.

But speculation has circled around a return of the State of Origin, which Smith believes should be welcomed back in the AFL.