DUAL premiership ruckman Ben McEvoy has made an impassioned commitment to helping lurch under-siege Hawthorn out of its rut. 

McEvoy left the MCG in tears after his 150th match on Easter Monday, which coincided with Geelong lashing the Hawks by 86 points to hand them their worst start to a season in 20 years.

That defeat was one of Hawthorn's three inside a month by at least 75 points as it plummeted to second-last on the AFL ladder.

"I'm invested in this and certainly that was a big day for me personally, but there was more to (the emotion) than that," McEvoy said.

"I care about this team and this club, so people will say we're disinterested (and), yeah, look, it gets hard at times on the field and it can probably look worse than it is.

"We haven’t been able to deliver yet, unfortunately, but we care – or I certainly care. When you dish up performances like some of the ones we have this year, it hurts."

The Hawks enter Sunday's match against Melbourne, and former teammate Jordan Lewis, with a 1-5 record, ahead of only the winless Sydney Swans.

Coach Alastair Clarkson spoke about his players lacking hunger after the latest 75-point loss to St Kilda in Launceston last weekend, but McEvoy said a player-driven discussion about standards, as opposed to Clarkson's brutal honesty, would have a greater impact on changing the club's immediate fortunes.

"Right at the minute, we haven't been able to find the answers … we know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we're up for the challenge," he said.

"I think (hunger) is (an issue), because we saw on the weekend, St Kilda, to their credit, were hungrier than us for that particular game.

"You're not going to sit back and say, 'Oh, I don't want to play good footy anymore and don't want to have success' – of course we all do.

"But it's such a cut-throat business that you have to be right at the peak of your powers all the time and we haven't been able to do that. Only hard work will get us back there."

McEvoy expected Lewis to be his usual vocal self on the field against his old side, but said he would be just another member of the "enemy".

The Demons game presents a great opportunity for McEvoy to assert himself on the contest against an undersized ruck division without injured pair Max Gawn and Jake Spencer.

"I think playing in the ruck is an important job every week, but it will be particularly important (this week)," he said.

"They've been really unlucky with their injuries, so that's an area we'll have to capitalise on – that will be really important.

"I feel - not the pressure - but I take the responsibility every week that my job is really important, as is everyone's."