HAWTHORN COACH Alastair Clarkson concedesthat although Swans full-forward Barry Hall has not been at the top of his gamein 2007, Hawthorn's game plan will still revolve around ensuring 'big badbustling' doesn't see as much of the footy as he'd like.
"He's a quality player and whether he'sin form or out of form, I think he's been pretty good," Clarkson said.
"He's not at the same level that he'sbeen at over the last four or five years but I think he's made a pretty goodcontribution to the Swans' outfit.
"Irrespective of whether he's in formor out of form, we will plan very much around him being a key part of the Sydney outfit. We do knowthat if you can quell his influence we'll go a long way to beating Sydney."
The Hawks welcome back both Trent Croad andRick Ladson, who were late withdrawals last week, but will be without Ben Dixon.The half-forward injured his hamstring in last week's clash against PortAdelaide, but Clarkson is positive he will make a speedy return.
"I reckon he'll be back after the (mid-season)break. It wasn't a serious hamstring injury but just enough of a tweak for himto miss a couple of games," Clarkson said.
While many sides will look forward to themid-season break, Clarkson says the Hawks winning streak means they'd preferjust to keep on playing.
"The break, in a sense, will be alittle bit of a disservice to us because our side is playing well. We're keento continue to play while we're in good form but we know we've got two toughgames leading into it with Sydney and Carlton," Clarksonsaid.
Despite the fact that the third-placedHawks have been labelled favourites for the MCG clash, Clarkson is remainingmodest about their chances.
"Sydneyplay a unique brand of footy and they've been very, very successful and I don'tthink they're going to change anything they do in their approach to the gamethis week.
"What we're trying to do really is followin the footsteps of some of these sides like West Coast and Sydney, who have acertain style of play that they're very successful at and develop a brand offooty that we play well and then just play it consistently week after week."
