LUKE Beveridge has conceded he may play an extra tall forward against Hawthorn on Sunday to thwart the influence of key playmaker Josh Gibson.

The All Australian backman had a career-high 44 possessions in Hawthorn’s win over West Coast on the weekend and Beveridge said he couldn't afford to let Gibson run riot again.

The Dogs have played a predominantly small attack in the opening two rounds with Tom Boyd the only genuine key forward and the versatile Jordan Roughead performing a pinch-hitting role.

"He's a star Josh and such an incredible player (but) he played a slightly different role last week," Beveridge said.

"He can play on talls, he as courageous as anyone in the air and then he go and play as a high defender.

"We aren't overly tall in our forward line, so we've got to decide whether or not we bring in another big.

"We've got some guys knocking on the door in Tommy Campbell and Jack Redpath and if we go in tall maybe Josh needs to play on one of those boys."

Beveridge also hinted that he's prepared to let his exciting young midfield go head-to-head with a hardened Hawks onball brigade and not place a hard tag on the prolific Sam Mitchell.

The veteran has been in stellar form this season racking up 36 possessions in round one against Geelong and then backing that up with 37 touches against West Coast on Sunday.

"It's a challenge for the collective (rather) than one individual to lessen Sam's influence on that game," Beveridge said.

"I like what our midfielders have done (against) some really experienced Fremantle midfielders.

"I really rate Jack Steven, David Armitage and Leigh Montagna and all the boys from the Saints and I like what our midfield did there."

While impressive wins over the Dockers and St Kilda have seen the Dogs' premierships odds shorten, the coach was typically non-committal on whether a victory over the reigning premier would announce his side a genuine flag contender.

"It's still only round three and there's still another 19 games to go, but it would be a big fillip for us to beat the Hawks," Beveridge said.

"I went and watched them with most of our coaches on Sunday and saw first hand what they are capable of.

"We're embracing it, we're looking forward to it and we know we're in for a real struggle."