ALASTAIR Clarkson has fired a warning shot at Adelaide to brace for a fierce response from Hawthorn as the reigning premiers attempt to reassert their authority at the MCG on Friday night.
The Hawks' pride was wounded in a 32-point qualifying final upset at the hands of West Coast, leading some commentators to question whether the battle-scarred group has the will to deliver a historic premiership three-peat.
But Clarkson said his troops were determined to hit back in their do-or-die semi-final against the Crows.
"We've got a very, very proud group and they've been really, really strong for this footy club – and we expect a response tomorrow night," Clarkson said.
"Hopefully we play some good footy and all the negativity around our position and our era and are we still contending and all that sort of stuff (disappears).
"It was only six weeks ago that everyone was saying we were unbeatable. All of a sudden everyone's fallen off.
"It doesn't worry us, we'll just back ourselves in and see how we go tomorrow night.
"If we don't get there, we'll have to work out a way over the summer how we can improve."
The loss in Perth was the Hawks' first defeat from their past seven finals, with Clarkson conceding his side's uncharacteristically shoddy display – particularly their disposal by foot – gave the "whole footy world a fair amount of ammo".
But the triple-premiership coach said his team had proven itself time and time again, and he was confident the Hawks would bounce back.
"We put in a bad one every now and again like every side does, but I reckon we've done it less than most sides in the competition for a long, long period of time, so it gives us a fair amount of trust and faith that we'll hopefully get a response this week," he said.
The Hawks will have to overcome Adelaide without leading goalkicker Jack Gunston (ankle), although Clarkson expected his side to cope.
"We've had that right throughout the journey of our club. We lost Roughy (Jarryd Roughead) for a couple of games through that (cancer) scare and managed to beat Fremantle by 12 goals down in Tassie," he said.
"It's not ideal, you'd like your better players and formidable players to be out on the park, but the chance to get them all out there in one hit is pretty rare. So we'll replace him with another bloke and get moving."
Swingman Ryan Schoenmakers and the versatile Matt Spangher appear in contention to come into the side, but young gun James Sicily seems out of the mix after he didn't train with the 25-man squad on Thursday.
Ruckman Jon Ceglar and speedy defender Angus Litherland were part of the main session after neither played against West Coast, while Clarkson is sticking by under-fire duo James Frawley and Brian Lake.
"Would you ever expect a coach to say he's not going to back his boys in?" he said.
Adelaide's 109 points was the highest score in the first week of finals, with Eddie Betts bagging five majors and skipper Taylor Walker snaring three.
Clarkson is wary of Adelaide's star-studded forward line and midfield – led by Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane – and he admired the Crows for an impressive second half of the season since the death of coach Phil Walsh.
"The reason why they're in the finals is because they're a really, really talented group of players," he said.
"There might be a little bit to do with Walshy there, but by and large they're in the finals because they deserve to be because they've played good footy across the course of the year."
