For the second week in succession the Hawks put up a near flawless display of football, winning by 99 points on the Gold Coast, after their round three demolition of Fremantle.
The most pleasing aspect of the win for Clarkson was the defensive strength shown despite the absence of premiership pair Ben Stratton and Norm Smith medallist Brian Lake, who are both set to play VFL for Box Hill on Sunday.
Five talking points: Gold Coast v Hawthorn
“To restrict them to three goals after the first quarter was a pretty impressive effort,” Clarkson said.
“They had 21 inside-50s in the third quarter and kicked one goal. We repelled their attacks and set up really smartly behind the ball.
“The clubs that challenge significantly around the pointy end of the ladder have really good depth.
“We’ve had some guys out through injury and suspension and by and large we’ve covered them really well,” Clarkson said.
“It doesn’t surprise me these young players have been able to come in. You’ve seen with the Cats and Sydney and other teams at the top who have been able to do this for a long time.
“I have an experienced group that gives them great guidance, especially at the back end.
“Guys who have been playing at Box Hill have come in and taken their opportunities. Suckling coming back from injury has been really important for us as well.
“It means we don’t need to rush guys back and can make sure they get games in the Box Hill side.”
Clarkson, whose side has now won 11 on the trot, was quick to shrug off suggestions the Hawks are already playing finals-quality football.
“We’re going OK at the minute, but you wouldn’t have said so two weeks ago," Clarkson added.
"The last two weeks have been pretty impressive. We weren’t against Essendon and (against) Brisbane we were pretty scratchy.
“The game evolves and changes so quickly, some of it with personnel and some of it with style of play.
“It's unlikely you can use the same game plan for the whole season. We’re going to need to evolve and work on things.
He added: “No matter how we’re playing at the moment it’s about building things as we go along."
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on and 22 rounds gives us a chance to give a lot of players experience.
“There’s lots of twists and turns in an AFL season. We’ll just play it week by week and hope we've got enough wins to get in the top four, then try to get deep into September.
“The challenge is to approach the next opponent, that’s the Cats and they’ve been a very good football side for a long time.”
“To restrict them to three goals after the first quarter was a pretty impressive effort,” Clarkson said.
“They had 21 inside-50s in the third quarter and kicked one goal. We repelled their attacks and set up really smartly behind the ball.
“The clubs that challenge significantly around the pointy end of the ladder have really good depth.
“We’ve had some guys out through injury and suspension and by and large we’ve covered them really well,” Clarkson said.
“It doesn’t surprise me these young players have been able to come in. You’ve seen with the Cats and Sydney and other teams at the top who have been able to do this for a long time.
“I have an experienced group that gives them great guidance, especially at the back end.
“Guys who have been playing at Box Hill have come in and taken their opportunities. Suckling coming back from injury has been really important for us as well.
“It means we don’t need to rush guys back and can make sure they get games in the Box Hill side.”
Clarkson, whose side has now won 11 on the trot, was quick to shrug off suggestions the Hawks are already playing finals-quality football.
“We’re going OK at the minute, but you wouldn’t have said so two weeks ago," Clarkson added.
"The last two weeks have been pretty impressive. We weren’t against Essendon and (against) Brisbane we were pretty scratchy.
“The game evolves and changes so quickly, some of it with personnel and some of it with style of play.
“It's unlikely you can use the same game plan for the whole season. We’re going to need to evolve and work on things.
He added: “No matter how we’re playing at the moment it’s about building things as we go along."
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on and 22 rounds gives us a chance to give a lot of players experience.
“There’s lots of twists and turns in an AFL season. We’ll just play it week by week and hope we've got enough wins to get in the top four, then try to get deep into September.
“The challenge is to approach the next opponent, that’s the Cats and they’ve been a very good football side for a long time.”
