ANY TEAM would love to have a 9-1 record at Round 10 and Hawthorn is no different.

After analysing the draw when it was released in October last year, Hawthorn coaches, administrators and fans wouldn’t have been blamed for asking “why?”

Playing each of last year’s finalists is tough for any side, but when you’ve got to do it from round 1-7, when you’ve played in a Grand Final the previous year and started your pre-season later than most, it’s easy to feel hard done by.

That’s not what Hawthorn did, however.

Instead, the Hawks sucked it up per se, and prepared as best it could for its challenging start to its 2013 campaign.

Fast forward 10 rounds and you’ll find them on top of the ladder with only one loss to their name and enjoying a well-earned rest in Round 11.

The secret? Peddling the old cliché, to take it one week at a time.

At least, that’s what utility Shaun Burgyone says.

“We had a tough start to the season but we got on with it and we’ll have a well-earned break now and review the first half of the season and come out in the second half fresh,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

“I’m not sure what we expected, we just took it week to week and whatever happens happens.

“We never looked too far in the future, but we’re in a good position now and we’ve set ourselves up for a good second half of the year.”

The impressive start to Hawthorn’s year has been amplified by the fact it has blooded a number of young players in Taylor Duryea, Jed Anderson and Sam Grimley and tried out recruits Jonathan Simpkin and Matt Spangher.

That means there’s depth, that Coach Alastair Clarkson knows who he can call on when the heat is on, and who he can’t.

And while he’s done that, and lost stars Matt Suckling and Ryan Schoenmakers to season-ending knee injuries and had Cyril Rioli miss a chunk of the season, the Hawks have kept on winning.

“We’ve got a lot of younger guys into the team, we’ve had a few players make their debuts which is a real positive,” Burgoyne said.

“We’ve been able to win, and blood some young guys at the same time so as long as we can continue down that path, we’ll be better for it.

“Every win is a good win, we’ve set ourselves up pretty well.”

Personally, Burgoyne is having one of his best seasons, and arguably enjoying his best run of form since joining the Hawks at the end of 2009.

He can play in a variety of roles, and is certainly used in each from week to week if not, from quarter to quarter.

It means he needs to be ready to play in any position on any given day, and makes his week a little longer than most, having to attend each line meeting depending on where Clarkson wants him to play.

But it doesn’t bother him, whether he’s kicking one of his 14 goals for the year or defending them or even spending time in the engine room.

He just wants to play footy and perform his role for the side.

“As long as you do the preparation mid-week with the line coaches and ‘Clarko’, there’s no issue in getting moved around during the game because you know the structure of how we want to play and how we want to move the ball, it makes it all pretty easy,” he said.

“It’s a matter of talking to the coaches and finding out what my role is and executing that on game day.

“It’s exciting kicking goals but that’s just part of playing your role.

“If you’re up forward, then you try and kick some goals and I’ve been lucky enough to get the opportunity to do that in the early part of the season.

“If you’re down back by the same token, you’ve got to defend the goals so it depends on where you’re playing.”