A MATHEMATICAL finals chance is all the sniff Hawthorn's four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson needs.
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Clarkson's Hawks are playing as well as they have all season, celebrating back-to-back wins for the first time this year ahead of the latest chapter of their rivalry with Geelong at the MCG on Sunday.
Hawthorn is two games out of the top eight, but boasts a percentage north of 100, so an upset of the first-placed Cats would have every side in the top bracket looking over their shoulder.
Jack Gunston will return from a leg injury to face the Cats. Picture: AFL Photos
Making the finals isn't necessarily Clarkson's highest priority – highlighted in his own recent words that you're effectively first or you're last – but there's still a chance it could eventuate.
"We need to see where we're at as a footy club, and we've tested ourselves against some pretty good opponents over the last three weeks," he said on Friday.
"We just got pipped by West Coast, beat Collingwood and then knocked off Freo down in Tassie but this will be a real test for us to see where we're at.
"Geelong's form, perhaps, hasn't been as strong as it was in the earlier part of the year and that's, perhaps, to be expected.
"It's hard to maintain a high level of form but irrespective of ladder positions, it doesn't really matter when you've got these clashes.
"Both sides seem to lift to the occasion, so we're hoping we can lift a bit more than they can. But it's going to be a big test for us and we're looking forward to it."
Clarkson said, for him, this was just another match, but admitted the prospect of playing in front of a packed MCG "excites you".
"They have been (a very good side) for nearly all the time I've been at the footy club … and we've been pretty strong ourselves," he said.
"So that's why the clashes have always had a bit of spice in them, because there's just been so much on the line.
"They've been able to do this year what we're going to try to do over the next 18 months – and that's get ourselves back into serious contention again."
Both sides seem to lift to the occasion, so we're hoping we can lift a bit more than they can - Alastair Clarkson on the Hawks-Cats clash
Jack Gunston is set to return from what the club described as a minor leg injury, while Jon Ceglar and James Cousins are other possible inclusions, and Darren Minchington might make his Hawks debut.
Midfielder Liam Shiels will also run out for his 200th game in brown and gold.
"He's been here since he was a pup, really, and he's now played 200 games and been a pretty decorated player in our footy club," Clarkson said of Shiels.
"He's been a leader of our club, in terms of holding the vice-captaincy, and he's just a really core part of our establishment here and were delighted he's played 200 games.
"He's highly respected within the walls and, perhaps, a little bit underrated in the outside footy world but he doesn't mind that, he's a pretty humble and low-key sort of bloke."
Meanwhile, reigning Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell, who broke his left leg in a training incident in mid-January, is still a chance to play this year despite Clarkson saying it was "highly unlikely".
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