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WINNING a premiership three-peat shouldn't automatically see Hawthorn's current generation of stars hailed as the club's greatest-ever side, Hawks hall-of-famer Peter Knights says.
Alastair Clarkson's men will be gunning for a hat-trick of flags for the first time in club history against West Coast at the MCG on Saturday.
But with 12 premiership cups – four won during the 1980s golden era - already gleaming in the entrance to the club's Waverley headquarters, picking the best-ever Hawks side is no mean feat.
And with the Hawks about to play in their fourth-straight Grand Final, Knights believes it's too close to call.
"When you think about that group in the '80s who have played in seven consecutive Grand Finals, that’s a fair effort. When you go through them individually, there's a lot of great players," the triple-premiership player said.
"You go through this side tonight that will be selected, (there's) a lot of great players.
"This group will go down as one of the best Hawthorn has had. I'm not necessarily saying it's the best, but it's certainly right up there."
Selection intrigue has dominated the build-up to this year's Grand Final, with Ryan Schoenmakers a chance to be dropped and miss his third-straight season decider.
Knights understands the heartache that missing out causes, having played every game of the 1971 season before a knee injury sidelined him for the Grand Final triumph.
Whichever way the selection axe falls to squeeze spearhead Jack Gunston into this year's Grand Final team, Knights said the players couldn't afford to expend too much energy worrying about the decision.
"I don't think you can spend too much time consoling, because they know the disappointment, you know their disappointment," he said.
"There's not much you can say, all you know is that you're going to give support to those players, they'll give the support to you, but it's all about those 22 that run out onto the ground on Grand Final day.
"That's the bottom line."
After playing in the Hawks' losing 1975 decider, Knights bounced back to taste premiership success in '76, '78 and '83.
The 63-year-old is set for a new Grand Final day experience this year by presenting the premiership cup to Clarkson and Luke Hodge if Hawthorn wins.
"(It's an) unbelievable honour, a great opportunity, it's really exciting," Knights said.
"Obviously like all of us as Hawthorn people, I just hope that I'm the one presenting the cup to Hodgey and Clarko, because that means the mighty Hawks have won."
