Despite falling to the Bulldogs by 22 points in their first pre-season clash on Saturday, the Hawks are keeping their heads up and focusing on the positives.

Addressing the media the following day, midfield bull Tom Mitchell said the Hawks used the pre-season opportunity to trial a few structural tweaks, and were met with varying success.

"We were a bit scratchy yesterday as a team, and we know that we've got a lot of things to work on," the 2017 PCM winner said.

"We've made some tweaks to our game plan and we were able to trial a few things.

"We rotated players through a number of different positions, we exposed some players through the midfield, and [played] some more guys up in the forward line.

"A few things worked and a few things didn't work, so now we've got a game to analyse during the week, and we'll see if we can get better again."

Read: Match report- Hawks vs Bulldogs

Alastair Clarkson described new recruit Jarman Impey as "electric" during his post-match presser yesterday, and Mitchell was similarly impressed, believing his new teammate will be a powerful asset for the Hawks in 2018.

"He had a lot of flair yesterday," Mitchell said of the small forward.

"There was a patch in the third quarter where he ran through the middle of the ground and took a couple of bounces, so I think he's going to be a pretty electric player for us and we're excited to see what he can do."

Mitchell continued his 2017 theme of collecting 30+ disposals, a feat he achieved 20 times last season on his way to a second-place finish in the Brownlow and his maiden All-Australian selection. The 24-year-old finished the practise match with an impressive 30 touches, six marks, four tackles and a goal.

Watch his full press conference here.