A HEART-TO-HEART after Hawthorn's round 17 loss to Brisbane was the catalyst for the team's surge up the ladder and into a top-four finish, says captain Jarryd Roughead.
The 33-point loss to the Lions in Launceston was the Hawks' last defeat – they have since won six straight to catapult from 10th on the ladder to fourth at the end of round 23.
Roughead said the player discussion wasn't a "crisis meeting", but conceded it was a timely chat that got the season back on line after it appeared to be petering out.
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"We obviously needed to play better footy than what we were," Roughead said on Monday.
"After that loss, we had a good look at ourselves and thought, 'Is this a season we just want to throw away and have nothing to really look back on and think that was a good season?'
"We just didn't want to get to the end of the season and say, 'Could we have done a little bit better on a few games and just scraped into the finals or do we want to make an impact?'
"I think the boys grabbed the opportunity with both hands and see where we are now."
Coach Alastair Clarkson said they had found a satisfying mix of senior experience that benefitted from an "injection of young talent".
Veteran Shaun Burgoyne returned to the side in round 19 after a hamstring injury, which helped complement the form of youngsters like James Worpel, Conor Nash, Harry Morrison, Teia Miles and Kaiden Brand.
"It's the combination of some older, wise heads who can steer and guide these young fellas and an injection of youth is great for guys like this guy [Roughead], that there is some light at the end of the tunnel if you work hard," Clarkson said.
"The great thing is the game isn't defined by your birth certificate, and all players whether you're 36 like Shaun or a young fella like Worpel … it can be exciting.
"The game doesn't look at it and say, 'You can't do well in this game because you're too young or too old'. It's the great beauty of the game."
Roughead conceded the Hawks' burst into the top half of the ladder had caught everyone by surprise.
But after getting on a "roll" after their big chat about what they wanted 2018 to stand for, they've got plenty of reasons to be confident going into September, with fellow finalists Geelong and Sydney among their recent scalps.
"We probably thought we needed to do something about [our season] and we've played some pretty good sides in the last five weeks," he said.
"It wasn't as if they were all going to be easy matches, we had to play some good footy and I think we showed in the past five or six weeks that we can play some pretty good footy."
He told Channel Seven's Talking Footy the Hawks had the potential to win the flag.
"We're going to have to play at our best to do that," Roughead said.
"Our last five or six weeks have been good without being extraordinary. We've played some good sides in Geelong and Essendon at the MCG, and even beating Sydney away on the weekend was a very good win.
"Can (we) win it? We've put ourselves in with a great chance to do that."
