CLOSE, but not good enough was Alastair Clarkson’s straightforward appraisal of the Hawks' 17-point loss to the Dogs at the MCG.

Clarkson said his side had matched the Bulldogs in nearly every department but was simply incapable over converting hard-fought chances into tangible results.

“We had a lot of chances early in the game to actually get ourselves into the contest and we didn’t convert early,” he said.

“There wasn’t too much difference [between the teams] in terms of rebounding from 50 (and) inside 50. We won the clearances really well.

“We were happy with our ball movement. It was a high possession game, we thought our endeavour was good, we ran the game out really well and made it a contest for the duration of the game.

“Of the key things that we look for throughout the course of a game – like clearances and inside 50, good rebound that sort of stuff – we were able to achieve (that).”

“You need to convert your opportunities when you get them. We had some chances early where we missed those chances and the Western Bulldogs took those when they had their chances. That’s a credit to the Doggies and something that we need to work at a bit more.”

The Hawks’ inaccurate kicking for goal – Clarkson dragged forward Ben Dixon in the third quarter after he missed a third set shot – was a deadweight compounded by the absence of their leading goalscorer, Mark Williams.

“We weren’t quite on our game in terms of our goalkicking conversions,” Clarkson said.

“You’ve got to put 22 blokes out there, every side has injuries. Mark Williams is in our best 22 and when he’s playing well, we are a more formidable forward unit.”

The Hawks defence also leaked goals where it has been successful at stopping opposition sides in the past, Clarkson said.

“We’ve been able to restrict opposition sides. Today was our poorest effort in being able to restrict that,” he said.