After starting the season with five straight defeats, Hawthorn never really had a chance of reaching the finals, let alone seriously threatening them.

But there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the guys in brown and gold, who have completely transformed their season.

Since the sixth round, the Hawks have won 14 of 18 games, and 13 of 16 since the eighth round.

Apart from defeats to league leaders Sydney in Round 7 and Geelong in Round 17, they have been present in every match they have played.

They lost their other two matches by the smallest of margins – against Port Adelaide in Round 10, they lost by one point after having a 41-point lead at the end of the third quarter, and against the Giants in Round 21, they lost by two points.

In both matches Hawthorn led by 28 points at the final inning.

Such is the evenness of the season, if the Hawks had managed to win even one of these two games, they would have finished third in the table and would have had a double chance.

Had they held on to their lead and won both games, preventing Port Adelaide and the Giants from coming back from behind to snatch victory, the Hawks would have finished second, with a double chance and a home finals.

Skeptics will say they couldn’t keep up and therefore weren’t good enough.

Sam Mitchell’s men will now play in the elimination final against the Bulldogs on Friday night. The Hawks have been on form in the competition – and some punters believe they can go all the way.

Optimistic fans dream of silver cups.

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It was supposed to be a home final for the Doggies, but as fate would have it, the match at the MCG, Hawthorn’s home ground, ended in a sell-out.

The Hawks have already played at the MCG in front of a packed house this season, so this won’t be much of a challenge for them.

Most people know this is the first week of the Finals, and while most of the Hawks will be playing in their first Finals, they won’t be overwhelmed.

Pundits are divided on who will win this battle. The Doggies have a great squad, with six of their 2016 squad remaining on the current roster, led by inspiring captain Marcus Bontempelli.

The Hawks have just three top-tier players on their roster – Luke Breust, Jack Gunston and Jack Ginnivan.

While the Hawks may beat the Bulldogs, it will be difficult for them to advance further this year.
If Hawthorn comfortably beats the Western Bulldogs, they will face Port Adelaide or Geelong.

The best Hawks can match the best in the competition. They have shown that and most other clubs will want to get rid of them. However, they have lost to both Port and Geelong this year.

History shows that it is extremely difficult for clubs finishing in fifth to eighth place to win the league.

Nick Watson celebrates a goal. (Photo: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Still, the bye before the finals had an impact on the competition, somewhat negating the advantage of a top-four finish and giving a week off if they won the qualifying final. However, since the current finals system was introduced, only the Dogs have won the tournament from outside the top four, in 2016.

While Mitchell says his young team can achieve limitless success this year, it won’t be easy.

The Hawks have nothing to lose as they have already exceeded most expectations.

With nothing to lose, the Hawks can do some serious damage, so the Bulldogs could find themselves in trouble.
However, the more experienced final teams would then prove too strong for the young Hawks.

But it’s not all bad for the Waverley lads, because there are a lot of similarities between this year and 2007 – and we know what happened the following year, right?

In 2007, Hawthorn had 13 wins and 9 losses in 22 matches during the season, finishing fifth.

In 2024, Hawthorn had 14 wins and 9 losses in 23 matches and finished seventh.

Then, in a tense qualifying final against Adelaide at Docklands (now known as Marvel Stadium), the young Hawks won by three points.

A young boy named Lance Franklin scored the deciding goal seconds before the end of the game.

He scored over 1,000 goals during his career and became one of the greatest footballers of all time.

Jack Gunston celebrates a goal in his 250th AFL game. (Photo: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Unfortunately, the following week the little Hawks lost to North Melbourne by 33 points in the semi-final at the MCG.

But the burning desire to win consumed coach Alastair Clarkson so much that he got to work.

A few strategic recruiting moves in the offseason and a great coach gave his guys solid work the following year.

Hawthorn were also in a much better position, having some finals experience. This put them in a good position to face 2008.

In 2008, Geelong were the dominant team all season long. Everyone expected them to play twice in a row, but not the head coach.

He knew his boys were capable of something special and they did – the young Hawks made it all the way to the end, winning one of the most incredible Grand Finals, beating their more favoured opponents.

When Ben Dixon, Joel Smith and Richard Vandenberg retired at the end of 2007, Hawthorn had one veteran in their squad (former captain Shane Crawford).

Clarko convinced former Port Adelaide boss Stuart Dew to come out of retirement and don the brown and gold – he now had two experienced leaders.