HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson says his team must striveto emulate St Kilda in the wake of the Hawks 17-point loss to the Saints atTelstra Dome.
Clarkson rated the Saints a premiership contender despiteentering last night's match in 11th place on the ladder.
"St Kilda should be in positions to be winingpremierships. That's the quality of their list," the Hawk coach said.
"Their top 20 players are as good as any top 20 playersin the competition.
"We need to ensure over the next few weeks, and nextyear, that the quality of our list becomes as strong, if not stronger, than theSt Kilda list and those of the other sides that we consider to be in the topbracket."
Clarkson said his side would learn valuable lessons from amatch in which he blamed missed opportunities for the loss.
The Hawks kicked 3.7 from set shots inside 50 in the openingthree quarters and gave away goals with silly mistakes inside their defensive50.
He said all the indicators showed the team's intensity wasat a required level.
"We played some okay footy tonight," Clarksonsaid.
"It was a tough contest and we missed some crucialopportunities and St Kilda capitalised on theirs.
"Are we disappointed we lost? Yes. Are we shatteredabout it? No. They are a very, very good side St Kilda and have been for fiveyears.
"We knew we were coming up against a formidable foe andthey should be a lot higher than 11th on the ladder."
Clarkson did rue an off the ball free kick against LanceFranklin in the second term that denied teammate Stephen Gilham a relativelyeasy set shot for goal.
Minutes later the Saints goaled to ensure a two-goal swingfrom which the Hawks never recovered. Eight points was as close as the side gotfor the rest of the night.
He said he didn't consider dragging Franklin for the indiscretion because it waswrong to "penalise the team".
Franklinended the night with 5.5 but three of his goals came in the final 15 minutesafter the side faced a 34-point deficit.
The Hawk coach said his message post-game was the same asthe one he conveyed to waiting media.
"We'll learn an enormous amount from it. It was a toughcontest and we are a young side that is making really good progress but we aregoing to have some hiccups along the way against some really experiencedopposition like St Kilda," he said.
"You just hope that along the journey the experiencethese guys are getting will enable them to play at an intense level and be ableto perform under the fierce pressure and do it consistently.
"When we can do that really well we'll be a reallyformidable side."
At 10-6 and still right in the hunt for an all-important topfour berth, the Hawks face the resurgent Kangaroos at Aurora Stadium nextSunday in a game that will have enormous ramifications for both clubs.
He said he could see much of the Hawks in how the Roos haveattacked 2007.
"They've got guys who are having a crack and performingtheir role within the team and that's all you can ask," he said.
Hawthorn came through the game unscathed on the injuryfront.
