Can we all just shut the hell up about Hawthorn

JASON Dunstall, please. Of all people you should know not to make premature declarations about the best team in the AFL.

The Giants celebrate a goal as Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell look for answers.

JASON Dunstall, please. Of all people you should know not to make premature declarations about the best team in the AFL.

If you missed On The Couch on Monday night, the Hawthorn legend declared the three-time defending champion Hawks could not win a fourth straight flag this season.

“I think they’ll play finals this year but I can’t have them in my premiership consideration,” Dunstall said. “The midfield’s under all sorts of pressure. Sam Mitchell’s battling one-out there at the moment and you can’t expect one bloke to carry your midfield — there’s got to be six or seven of them running through there.

“There are a lot of issues underneath and Alastair Clarkson has been very open in saying the last few weeks they’ve been lucky to win. He knows there’s problems. They are battling.”

To back up his argument, Dunstall pointed to Hawthorn’s below-par percentage of 91.8 this season, which is far inferior to the Hawks’ percentage of 136.4 when they were 3-3 after six rounds last season. The point was, don’t be fooled by the 4-2 record, they’re not the same team.

Before we shoot down the legendary sharpshooter’s prediction let’s note there aren’t many people on this earth who love the brown and gold more than Dunstall and there’s a huge chance his comments were designed to motivate the playing group.

But he’s not the only one questioning Luke Hodge and his men after last Saturday’s 75-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney so let’s treat them seriously.

Here are six reasons to hold fire on the Hawk eulogies at this stage of the season:

1. NO ONE HAS HAD A TOUGHER DRAW

There’s a reason the Hawks’ percentage, as Dunstall noted, isn’t exactly soaring right now: they’ve played some bloody good teams!

Of the teams currently sitting in the top eight — which most are already predicting will all still be there at season’s end — Hawthorn has had easily the toughest first six games.

Five of the Hawks’ six games have been against top eight teams — Geelong (L), West Coast (W), Western Bulldogs (W), Adelaide (W) and GWS (L).

No one else in the top eight has played more than three — North Melbourne (two), Geelong (two), Sydney (three), Western Bulldogs (two), GWS (three), West Coast (two), Adelaide (three). It makes a difference — and not just to your percentage but also all those statistics you’ve heard people trotting out to point to Hawthorn’s demise.

It’s easy to let your preseason expectations affect how you feel about a team early in the year. Remember when everyone was high on Gold Coast after they started 3-0? The excitement came because we thought a win on the road against Fremantle was worth something. That’s since proven to be worth not much at all, as were the Suns’ other wins against Essendon and Carlton.

If it doesn’t already, Hawthorn’s ability to make it through this period with a 4-2 record will be seen as crucial by season’s end.

Heads up, Hawks.

2. THEY’VE ALREADY BEATEN THREE VERY GOOD TEAMS

Have we seriously already forgotten how easily the Hawks dispatched the Eagles in round two?

This was supposed to be the new challenger to the crown showing how much it had closed the gap from last year’s Grand Final — and in the end the margin stayed at exactly 46 points.

The following week it was the Bulldogs and then a fortnight later the Crows. Both times Hawthorn won.

Yes, the performances weren’t perfect. But that should only add to the belief that once the Hawks get back to their best — the competition remains in their grasp.

It’s not as though a clearly dominant alternative has emerged either.

3. LAST YEAR’S START WAS WORSE

We won’t brush over the nature of Hawthorn’s defeats to the Cats and the Giants, particularly the disaster at Spotless Stadium. Champion teams don’t often lose by 75 points.

But let’s not forget the Hawks lost the corresponding fixture last season — and that was against a GWS outfit that finished the season in 11th place.

Hawthorn’s two other defeats in their 3-3 start to 2015 were also against teams that didn’t make the finals. Surely losses to Essendon (finished 15th) and Port Adelaide (ninth) were more worrying than losing to Geelong and GWS this year?

It didn’t matter then, so why are the likes of Dunstall so worried now?

Sam Mitchell has carried the load during a crucial part of the season.

4. THE MIDFIELD HASN’T CHANGED

One of Dunstall’s biggest concerns is the performance of the midfield. We’re going to go out on a limb and say there won’t be another game this season where Mitchell is the only player who racks up more than 20 disposals on the ground.

The Hawks lost a couple of key players from last year’s Grand Final team (David Hale, Brian Lake and Mat Suckling) but they weren’t from the onball unit.

Hawthorn has a number of players who aren’t in top form at the moment but they haven’t forgotten how to play. The likes of Hodge (who will miss the next four to six weeks after injuring his knee early in the game against GWS), Brad Hill and Liam Shiels haven’t been helped by injury-interrupted starts. They’ll get better.

5. JARRYD ROUGHEAD

Think the big fella might make a difference to the forward line (and the midfield when he pinch hits)?

Hawthorn has relied on a “next man up” philosophy during the Clarkson era but if there’s one player in their side who can’t be replicated it’s Roughie.

The good news is he’s expected to be back well before the end of the season. Do you think Jack Gunston and James Sicily will appreciate seeing the opposition’s best defender walking elsewhere before the game?

6. THE RUN HOME

The benefit of playing so many tough games in the opening six rounds is the Hawks’ fixture gets a whole lot friendlier from here.

Eleven of their remaining 16 games are against teams currently outside the top eight. The other five are against Sydney and North Melbourne twice and West Coast (Subiaco).

Winning at least 13 more games is a real possibility. That would give the Hawks a 17-5 record and the bonus of not having to travel away from the MCG during the finals. Sound ominous?