Part of the challenge, will be facing a midfield littered with elite players such as David Mundy, Michael Barlow and Aaron Sandilands.
The Hawks flew to Tasmania on Friday morning ahead of the big clash, a challenge in which Burgoyne says his teammates are well prepared.
“It’s going to be a challenge, they’ve obviously got some superstars in the team who are playing well,” Burgoyne said.
“They’re in the top eight for a reason, because they’re playing good footy so we’re definitely going to have to play some good footy against them.
“They’ve got a pretty good midfield, their forward line plays pretty well so they’ve got a number of things we have to worry about."
One of the Dockers’ biggest strengths, the ruck combination of Sandilands and Zac Clarke poses another big test for Hawks duo David Hale and Jarryd Roughead.
The Hawthorn pair showed their desire to compete against the Demons last week, nullifying the influence of Melbourne ruckman, Mark Jamar.
Burgoyne says though, that despite their impressive showing against Jamar, facing Sandilands takes that challenge to another level not only for Hale and Roughead, but also the Hawthorn midfielders.
“It’s pretty hard to practice for Sandilands he’s such a freak of a man,” he said.
“He’s a very good player for them, he gets them going and wins a lot of stoppages with his hit outs and he’s definitely a player we have to negate.
“If Hale and Roughie can negate him in the ruck, and our mids can get in there first, then that will go a long way towards us winning the game.”
With defender Josh Gibson making his return on Saturday, the Hawks now have a number of tall defensive options to nullify the influence of Dockers forwards Matthew Pavlich, Chris Mayne and resting ruckmen Sandlilands and Clarke.
Adding to that ability Burgoyne says, has been the improvement of key defender Ryan Schoenmakers so far this season.
“He’s improving, he’s still only 21 years old so he’s got to have some time to develop an d he’s playing on the best forward each week,” he said.
“He’s getting better each week, so with a bit more time and a few more games under his belt he’s only going to get better.
“Hopefully he can take that best player and grow with confidence and maturity.”
Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club’s Digital media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre
RELATED
Read hawthornfc.com.au's match preview, Looking ahead to Fremantle to see a player and fan's view of the game.
Listen to the Round 8 Hawks-Cast with Lehmo and Dec featuring Hawks star, Lance Franklin. Check out this week's Dream Team preview featuring an underrated Hawk who has been delivering for coaches.
