HAWTHORN'S game-plan will evolve as it attempts to stay ahead of the pack in 2016, coach Alastair Clarkson says.
The Hawks have long been recognised as being tactically at the forefront of the game, but it will be a different outfit that lines up against Geelong at the MCG on Monday.
Brian Lake and David Hale have retired, Matthew Suckling went to the Western Bulldogs as a free agent and Jed Anderson was traded to North Melbourne.
The injury list has also been an issue, with premiership players Jarryd Roughead (knee), Brad Hill (wrist) and Liam Shiels (wrist) all missing.
"There will be subtle (variations) and that will be simply because of different personnel. Some rule changes as well means you always have to stay on your toes," Clarkson said on Sunday.
"There will be other things that the coaches have looked at that we think we can do a little bit differently. We need to (tinker with the game-plan).
"You've got to try to stay ahead of the game."
Clarkson said some of the game-plan changes were hard to predict.
"Right at this point in time, I couldn't exactly tell you what (the changes) are going to be, because sometimes they emerge throughout the course of the season," he said.
There will be six changes to the side that won last year's Grand Final, with James Sicily, Jonathon Ceglar, Billy Hartung, Jonathan O'Rourke, Angus Litherland and Will Langford named to play the Cats.
"We'll just have to wait and see (how the new players adapt). We're excited with the crop of players that are coming through. They just need some exposure to week in, week out footy at senior level now," Clarkson said.
"They're going to have their ups and downs, but we'll see how they go over the course of the year."
While much of the focus with Geelong has been on big recruit Patrick Dangerfield over the off-season, Clarkson said the Hawks could ill-afford to focus too much on the star Cat.
"Whether he's in a Crows jumper or a Geelong jumper this time, he's a talented player. We've got to be observant obviously of the talent he's got, but there's 21 of his mates that are also a pretty formidable unit. It will be the whole of Geelong side that we play rather than just Paddy Dangerfield," he said.
