Disappointed Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson put on a brave face as he saw veteran defender Grant Birchall suffer a hamstring injury and his side's finals chances dented against North Melbourne on Friday night.
Birchall hurt his right hamstring during the third quarter of the Marvel Stadium contest and the four-time premiership star cut a forlorn figure on the bench as North Melbourne overcame a slow start to hand Hawthorn its 11th loss of the season.
The Hawk has been plagued with a combination of knee and calf injuries in recent years and this latest setback could mean it's season over for the 31-year-old with his side needing to win its final three matches to have any chance of qualifying for September.
While Birchall's injury was a big disappointment for Clarkson, the veteran coach also lamented the ability of his side to mix it with North Melbourne's experienced midfield and play four consistent quarters of football.
"We are just in that pattern at the moment where we can’t get four quarters of footy together and can’t get enough scoreboard pressure on the opposition," Clarkson said.
"We are regularly scoring between eight and 12 goals and it is not going to cut it against good sides."
The Hawks' forward line looked to be gelling well early against North Melbourne, as young duo Mitchell Lewis and Tim O'Brien looked dangerous and pulled down some telling marks to help Clarkson’s charges open up a 20-point quarter-time advantage.
But it was slim pickings for the Hawks from that point on and Clarkson admits his forward line is still a work in progress as his young talls get used to playing alongside each other.
"It is just getting the synergy between our leading patterns and our mids where they kick the ball, how high they kick it and how much in front they kick it and having the understanding of where the ball is going to be kicked," Clarkson noted.
"That's not perfectly right at the minute and that will grow.
"It wasn’t that perfect for (Jarryd) Roughead and (Lance) Franklin in their first couple of years either.
"There are ups and downs and ebbs and flows and it takes longer for younger players to learn their patterns.
"We are making some progress ... sometimes you have got to bide your time a little."
With their finals chances slowly slipping away, the Hawks may be tempted to recall Roughead for what could be a farewell match in what looks likely to be his last season of AFL football.
Clarkson wouldn’t be drawn on whether the former skipper would receive a farewell appearance in the brown and gold and said there were a lot of factors that needed to be considered before it occurred.
"It depends on his form at Box Hill, on how he is playing and his body," Clarkson said.
"He is a bit banged up, he has had a big career and we will see how it goes over the next two or three weeks.
"We will sit down and make a decision as a club and 'Roughy' will be a part of that."
