HAWTHORN is a "middle-of-the-road" side that shouldn't expect to win this year's premiership, a blunt Alastair Clarkson has declared.
Clarkson also made sure everyone knew Melbourne wasn't much good on Saturday, either, despite edging out his Hawks by five points at the MCG in a scrappy affair.
The four-time premiership coach faces one of the biggest challenges of his career to revitalise an ageing list that was always going to find it difficult to remain at the top after a glorious era.
Hawthorn's patchy form within matches this season returned in the middle two quarters against the Demons but it still almost rallied from behind for a second straight week.
DEES IN A THRILLER Full match coverage and stats
The latest loss was the Hawks' fourth in seven rounds to start the season and Clarkson said their 11th placing, which could be lower by round's end, was a fitting reflection of where they sit.
"By and large, Melbourne will applaud the fact they've won a game, because they've been down and out, and they really needed a win if they wanted to keep their season alive," he said.
"They'll be dancing from the rooftops tonight – but they didn't play outstanding footy, either, today. They're going to need, just like us, to play a hell of a lot better footy than that.
WATCH The last two minutes
"But fortunately for them, they win the game and fortunately for us last week, we just win the game, but neither side showed anything today to suggest they're going to be any threat come the end of the year.
"Both sides have got some work to do."
Clarkson was clearly seething about his players' basic errors throughout the match, with even ever-reliable ruckman Ben McEvoy dropping an uncontested chest mark at one stage.
"A really good side would have really hurt Melbourne with some of the opportunities we had today – and that's the disappointing part," he said.
WATCH Alastair Clarkson's full post-match media conference
"We couldn't sit there and say, 'Melbourne's pressure was just enormous and that's what stopped us from dropping marks and missing kicks and that sort of stuff'.
"We were out on our own and we were just dropping balls. There's no excuse for that."
Clarkson was honest with his assessment of Hawthorn's list and that his group has some significant work ahead to get going.
"Some of that will be the way we're playing and some of it will be personnel," he said.
"We always sit here and judge who are the players who will help us win our next premiership. Right at the minute, we're looking at our group and saying, 'Listen, we're a middle-of-the road side'.
"So we can keep going down that track and end up a middle-of-the-road side for the next four or five years, but that's not the way we go about it."
Clarkson said there would not be "catastrophic change" but that some of his younger players were showing promise for Box Hill in the VFL.
How far away the Hawks were from being a force again was anyone's guess, he said.
"It could be 10 years, it could be 10 months. I don't think it's going to be in four months," he said.
"I'd like to think it could be, but it's highly unlikely to be, given we're 3-4 (wins-losses) now, but I've seen sides do it pretty quickly, too, so we've got some things to work on.
"We'll roll the sleeves up and get to work on them."
