Alastair Clarkson says there's still plenty of time left in the season for Hawthorn to discover the kind of trust competition pacesetters West Coast and Richmond have in each other.
However, he said his Hawks must fix their scrappy ball movement if they're to remain a chance for a late-season surge towards the finals.
The Hawks kept the goal-happy Eagles to just 11 majors in the clash at Etihad Stadium, which resulted in the visitor's lowest score for the season.
But Clarkson said there remained a clear difference between his team, which just lost its third consecutive game, and the ladder leaders.
"The sides that sit in the top part of the ladder are the sides that have genuine belief and trust in their system, and we're still building that, with a fair amount of change to our side over the last 18 months to two years," Clarkson said after the Hawks' 15-point loss.
"It doesn't just snap overnight. Sometimes it does, and it can happen quickly, and sometimes it just takes a bit of time for that chemistry to build with your group and one another and the way you want to play.
"We're still building that, but right at the present time, West Coast, that belief and trust they have in one another, they and Richmond are probably the two standouts in that regard."
Clarkson said the Hawks would continue to "find the next wave of players", with players such as Mitch Lewis growing from his exposure to the top level.
He also said they were keen to explore the combination of Ben McEvoy and Jon Ceglar in the ruck after the latter was a late inclusion for his first game since the end of 2016.
He also said it was a challenge for his players to try to replicate the kind of trust the Tigers built in the back half of their premiership-winning season.
"It's just about preparing for our next piece of silverware," he said.
"Is that going to come at the end of this year? Sometimes everyone can make hasty decisions around when it is and make the wrong decisions.
"We've got to build for what's genuine and look at our group and think are we going to get there or not with this current group or this style of play or whatever.
"I said to our players, after round three or four, West Coast was still wondering themselves whether they were the real deal.
"At 9-1, now they know they're the real deal because they've just got genuine trust and belief in their game-plan and one another.
"It can happen very, very quickly, but sometimes it can happen slowly too … right at the present time, it's happened a little bit slower than we'd like it to, but that's footy.
"All I do know is we're working hard to find what that next group of players is for us that can take us to that bit of silverware."
The Hawks were badly hurt by turnovers on Sunday, with their mistakes at crucial times the difference in the low-scoring affair.
Clarkson said fixing those costly errors would go a long way to determining their fate this season.
"We're still trying to find our way with our group and our next wave of players," he said.
"We're confident that if we just keep persevering and just get a bit better polish with the footy, we'll give ourselves a chance with in the second half of the year."
