HAWTHORN is chasing its third straight premiership and according to one key indicator, it might be on track to achieve a slice of history.

Club legends Leigh Matthews and David Parkin both know the challenges of achieving a three-peat, with Matthews coaching the Brisbane Lions to flags from 2001-03, while Parkin tried – but failed – to win a third straight premiership with Carlton in 1983.

Both told the AFL Record that the first big marker of whether a team could successfully defend premiership was the condition in which players returned to pre-season training.

"How many fail fat tests and how many don't achieve time-trial targets – (they are) the first signs of the wrong attitude," said Parkin, who coached Hawthorn to a premiership in 1978 before crossing to Princes Park.

"It's well and truly clear by the time the players return what their attitude is like."

On that account, the signs for the Hawks are promising. Coming off the 2013 flag, 24 players ran a personal best during a January time trial. The Hawks haven’t been as forthcoming with the numbers for the summer just gone, saying only that a "healthy number of personal bests" were achieved, but coach Alastair Clarkson was pleased with what he saw.

"We've had excellent numbers on the training track and they have come back in good condition and trained well. We haven’t been able to question their attitude at all over the summer," he said.

Clarkson also told the AFL Record he wouldn’t use the three-peat feat as a motivating factor for his players this year. 

"Our methodology isn’t about history and what other clubs have done," he said. "It surrounds the here and now and 2013 and 2014, as harsh as it seems, is almost best forgotten for us."

Read the full story on Hawthorn’s chances for three-straight premierships in the round one edition of the AFL Record, available at all grounds.