Hawthorn defender Josh Gibson has praised the Hawks’ depth in the wake of their 46-point win over Richmond.

For the first time in Alastair Clarkson’s tenure as senior coach the Hawks were without Luke Hodge, Jarryd Roughead and Sam Mitchell.

“We had five guys under 10 games last night which is really pleasing,” said Gibson on Triple M.

“I thought all of those guys stood up and carried a fair bit of the load last night.

“It’s pleasing to get games into young guys but also they’re coming into the side, playing their role and contributing and that’s the most important thing.”

After suffering a 75-point loss to GWS Giants last week, the footy world cast doubt over Hawthorn’s future but Gibson said the Hawks never lost faith in their system.

“The guys hung in there and stuck to our structure,” he said.

“We just believed in our system.

“Maybe we haven’t played our best football at times this year but 5-2 is a good start to the year.

“We’re a pretty proud group and it was pleasing that we responded in the way we did.”