MASTER coach Alastair Clarkson's list of dilemmas is as long as it's ever been in his time at Hawthorn.

There's transitioning an ageing side, which featured six players in their 30s as it lost to the rebuilding Sydney at the SCG by 19 points, into a team that can eventually contend for a flag.

Somehow finding a core group of players who can take the list forward despite the absence of early draft picks in recent years is a huge challenge.

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They're not the only problems, but one major quandary for Clarkson was highlighted on Friday night: scoring.

The Hawks finished with 9.9 (63) against a Sydney side that won't make finals.

It's not a one-off either. Their highest score this year was 93, in round six over cellar dweller Carlton.

The issue of impotence arose late in 2018, even as Hawthorn made it to the second week of finals.

The Hawks topped out at 83 points in their final five games last year.

Clarkson knows he has to figure out a solution and has experimented by swinging star defender James Sicily into attack.

Fair to say it hasn't worked. Not yet, anyway.


It's early, but a dismal showing of 1.2 and four free kicks conceded saw Sicily swung down back for the final term.

"We've taken Sicily forward in the last couple of weeks, to see if that would help us in terms of scoring. We've been unable to kick big scores, and really what we're relying on then is keeping sides to scores well below what our best score is," Clarkson said.

"Our best score at the minute's only about 11 or 12 goals, and we're not going to win too many games of footy if we're trying consistently trying to keep the opposition beneath that, so we've got to work out a way to score a little bit better.

"The Sicily move hasn't worked for us in the last two weeks. Do we keep trying that or do we take him back to where he's played his best footy in the last 18 months? We just need to explore that, but we're continuing to try things.

"That one hasn't worked for us, but it's only been two games."

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The Hawthorn of yesteryear dealt with the loss of superstar Lance Franklin to the Swans because Roughead, Jack Gunston, Luke Breust, Paul Puopolo and Cyril Rioli were there to fill the void.

Most of those names are still around in 2019, but Roughead has only just returned from a stint in the VFL, Gunston won't deliver 50 goals as he has done four times in five seasons coming into this year, Breust is similarly down on the high standards he has set and Puopolo's career has looked to be winding down for a while.

Rioli has retired, and despite being replaced by prized recruit Chad Wingard, the output hasn't been comparable. 

Hamstring and calf issues, along with a quiet start to his career in brown and gold, have meant the former Power maestro hasn't lived up to his billing.

Clarkson knows he needs to figure some things out, but pointed to his side’s competitiveness as a sign that it's not all doom and gloom.

"We've won some good games against some good opponents this year," Clarkson said.

"Our percentage, despite being 5-8, is still about 97 or 98 per cent, so it's not like we're getting belted out of the ballpark.

"We're right in contests and right in games. It's just that consistency from one quarter to the next hasn't been there, and we need to try and find that."

That competitiveness will be necessary next Saturday afternoon, when the Hawks face reigning premier West Coast at the MCG.