Yes, the Hawks have a hunger deficit, and here's why
DURING the opening six rounds last season, Hawthorn trailed in the final quarter in three successive matches and won.
The fighting spirit evident in those victories against the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and Adelaide saw the Hawks eventually win six games in 2016 by fewer than 10 points and, as a result, earn a top-four spot.
However, that capacity to lift – and lift again, has disappeared in 2017.
Three half-time deficits of 20-odd points have been turned into three thrashings of 75 points or more as the third-quarter drop-offs have become so catastrophic the final quarters have become meaningless.
It's been like watching a peloton finally break a desperate cyclist.
What to make of it is not as difficult as it may seem.
None of the premiership players to have played between 133 and 148 games – a group that includes Liam Shiels (148 games), Luke Breust (146), Ben Stratton (144), Isaac Smith (141) Paul Puopolo (141) and Jack Gunston (139) – has lost their skill overnight.
The immediate problem is an inevitable drop-off in hunger that occurs after winners drop from contention.
The loss of key players might be forcing the middle-tier Hawks to accept more responsibility but it does not mean their long-term value has declined.
In fact their output as individuals has not declined markedly but the collective output has dipped significantly enough to put the spotlight on them.
Most of that group will still be good players two years from now but the next 18 months will test character.
The more difficult challenge for Alastair Clarkson is finding a better answer than recent exhortations that appear to have mainly fallen on deaf ears, as the team trundles down the straight like a beaten favourite hard ridden under the whip.
It's time for every Hawk to set their collective eyes on the horizon under Clarkson, who has been in this position more than once before.
But they've been here before
This is the third time Alastair Clarkson has overseen 1-5 starts to the season in his coaching career.
The first time was in 2005, during Clarkson's first season as he established the list and a style of play.
The second time was 2010 when Josh Gibson and Shaun Burgoyne arrived at the club as Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn were traded to the Sydney Swans.
Premiership hero Mark Williams joined Essendon and Stuart Dew retired.
Burgoyne missed the first seven rounds of that season with a dodgy knee the club was getting right and Josh Gibson was missing after round three with a badly torn hamstring.
After seven rounds, Hawthorn sat third-bottom with one win and was struggling to once again capture an edge on the competition.
Sound familiar?
However Clarkson made changes to the game style and the Hawks took their first steps toward a kicking game that led to three flags.
The depth of talent at that time was greater with Luke Hodge, Jarryd Roughead, Sam Mitchell, Buddy Franklin, Grant Birchall, Cyril Rioli and Jordan Lewis having more good football ahead of them than they have now.
So this era's needs are different – more akin to 2005, when genuine stars were required to complement the great role players at the Hawks' disposal.
That's why Clarkson suggested the process might take longer this time around as the club goes back to the draft and trade table in the next few seasons to reboot.
But it's also why he remains confident he knows what needs to be done.
The first step is for the senior players to show the same care required to invest in the development of Kaiden Brand, Ryan Burton, James Sicily, Daniel Howe and Blake Hardwick as the likes of Richie Vandenberg, Chance Bateman, John Barker and Ben Dixon did when they started out in the 2000s.
That will require egos to be left on the hook.
The second is for the Hawks to stop trying to recapture their best as they wasted time doing in 2009 and for the first seven rounds of 2010.
They need to set a new path to give the team an identity worth fighting for after half-time, in both the short and long-term.
And to take things a step further, if the premiership stars from this era want to leave a legacy, they should look no further than two players who were part of the team that beat the Hawks on Saturday.
That duo, Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna, grieved after 2010 and then got going again, leading the Saints to another shot at the title seven years later.
It's raining goals for the Crows …
The Crows have piled on 121 goals while romping through the first six rounds.
It's the most prolific start to a season since Essendon in 2000.
The all-conquering Bombers lost just one game that season on the way to winning the flag.
… but not for Joe Daniher
A return of 1.6 against Melbourne wasn't Daniher's finest day at work. Still, at least he's in good company.
Three players with 500+ career goals managed even worse returns.
South Melbourne great Bob Pratt and Tiger Dick Harris both returned 1.8 in the 1930s – Pratt doing it twice.
Peter McKenna went two worse and kicked 1.10 for the Pies in 1969.
The most wasteful performances on record? Melbourne's Stuart Spencer and Richmond's Tom Allen. The pair blasted 0.11 in 1956 and 1949 respectively.
One last ominous stat while we're admiring the Crows
When Adelaide took Greater Western Sydney apart in the first round, the Crows' 147-point total was the most the Giants had conceded since round 10, 2014.
Since then they've tightened up dramatically.
The Giants have conceded just 68.4 points on average in the past five rounds.
That makes them the AFL's most miserly team during that unbeaten period.
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