The reality of taking on the \u201cbest side in the competition\u201d this weekend has helped Hawthorn avoid remaining caught up in the emotion of a thrilling one-point win over Geelong on Easter Monday.<\/p>\n
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell was pleased his team had little time to bask in the glory of beating the Cats and instead focus on the tough task of handing the top-of-the-table Western Bulldogs their first defeat of the season in Saturday night\u2019s Gather Round battle at Adelaide Oval.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tight turnaround and playing the Dogs probably helps,\u201d Mitchell said on Thursday when asked if his team had been able to \u201ccalm down\u201d after Monday\u2019s epic MCG battle.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou finish Monday with high emotion, but by the time you get to Tuesday lunchtime, you\u2019re already thinking ahead and pretty heavily motivated. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re playing the only undefeated team left in the competition. It\u2019s a great opportunity for us to test ourselves against the best side of the competition at this point, so it\u2019s pretty easy to move on quickly. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing is that everyone you run into still wants to talk backwards, and we need to be disciplined making sure that we\u2019re thinking forwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell said the Bulldogs \u201cwere doing a lot right\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir stoppage game is first-class and has been for a long period of time. Their marking power is first-rate across the ground … so there\u2019s a fair bit of preparation that goes into a game that\u2019s against as high quality team as the Bulldogs,\u201d the Hawks mentor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re on top of a ladder for a reason. They\u2019ve had some pretty tough games. They\u2019ve (beaten) Adelaide away and they beat Brisbane away, so they\u2019ve had some big games that they\u2019ve been able to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we\u2019re going to have to be at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell said planning ways to stop the threat of Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli \u201ckeeps you up at night\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBontempelli, just generationally, he\u2019s just as good a player as we\u2019ve seen for such a long time,\u201d he said. adding that the Hawks also had to nullify the Bulldogs\u2019 \u201ctall targets\u201d in Sam Darcy and Aaron Naughton <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that they\u2019ve got some skills that we need to take away, but by the same token, we\u2019ve got some strengths that we need to make sure that we can bring to the party to make sure they\u2019re challenged by the way we go about it as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like our form line is pretty solid, but we\u2019re going to have to be close to our best.\u201d<\/p>\n