HAWTHORN sharpshooter Jack Gunston isn't letting "a few bad kicks" erode his confidence in front of goal.
Normally one of the competition's elite set shots, the triple-premiership Hawk's radar has been a touch wayward recently.
In blustery conditions in Launceston two weeks ago, he booted 1.4 – including two set shots that hit the post and another he pushed right – as the Hawks shrugged-off a persistent Carlton by 19 points.
Then in an upset loss to Melbourne last Saturday, Gunston (2.4) couldn't convert a pair of gettable set shots from an almost identical position in the third quarter, part of an inaccurate display from the reigning premiers.
But given his remarkable track record, the 24-year-old isn’t dwelling on a couple of missed opportunities.
"It was just a few bad kicks, and I've managed to do them in a row instead of spreading them out over a few weeks. I'm not worried about it at all," Gunston told AFL.com.au.
"My routine's always the same. It might just be the height of the ball drop or if my leg's not coming through properly.
"That's the beauty of having so many cameras on the field, you’re able to watch it and review it midweek.
"I've got a pretty strong mind that I know my goalkicking is very good and I pride myself on it.
"I make sure I do enough during the week to make sure it's good on the weekend.
"Obviously I've kicked more points than I would've liked, but hopefully I'll fix it this week."
Gunston's accuracy (44.30 at 52.4 per cent) is currently the lowest in any of his stellar five seasons at Hawthorn.
But he's on track for a career-best tally, needing only 15 more majors to break his 2014 mark.
Plus, the 193cm star has stepped up his leadership working with youngsters James Sicily and Tim O'Brien in the unfortunate absence of spearhead Jarryd Roughead.
"I know how they feel when they have a bad game and when they come out and play a good game," Gunston said.
"It's hard when you're holding down key positions and you've got a light frame and you're a young kid."
Without Roughead, the Hawks have re-shaped their forward line and placed more reliance on pressure and forward-half turnovers, with Gunston "very confident" they can kick winning scores in finals.
More reliance has fallen on his shoulders, but also fleet-footed smalls Cyril Rioli (38 goals), Luke Breust (37) and Paul Puopolo (29) – whose absence with a hip injury has been sorely felt over the past two matches.
"Poppy will constantly tell us that he makes all of us better up forward and it's hard to knock that, he's a pressure king, all the stuff he does off the ball is first class," Gunston said.
"But it's been great this year, we've been able to see him win the ball and kick bags of goals and do stuff with the ball as well and fully round out his game."
