HAWTHORN recruit Shaun Burgoyne has admitted he found it strange running out to take on his former Port Adelaide teammates for the first time.

Burgoyne collected 14 possessions and laid seven tackles as the Hawks ground out an 11-point win over his old club at the MCG on Sunday.

“I had some mixed emotions before the game,” Burgoyne said.

“I had some wonderful years there and I am starting out my career here. It felt like I was playing with my brothers against my brothers.

“It was weird for me. The (Hawthorn) boys were fantastic during the game and during the week, giving me confidence, and backing me up. I was just trying to play my role.”

While Burgoyne’s form has been patchy in recent weeks, he can’t complain about the results since he came into the Hawthorn team in round eight.

The Hawks have won all four of their matches since then, recovering from a 1-6 start to the season to grab a spot in the top eight at the halfway mark of the season.

“Four from four, yeah,” Burgoyne said with a smile. “But the guys have been working pretty hard on the track. There were areas we needed to work on and it's showing, because we are getting these wins. It's all about hard work.”

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said he was looking for improvement from Burgoyne in the second half of the season.

“He’s nowhere near the dominant player we know he can be,” Clarkson admitted.

“He didn’t have an enormous amount of the footy today, but the quality of those touches that he did have was pretty important for us.

“He’s played very little footy for the best part of 18 months now and he’s working his way back into it.

“We’re really pleased to have him at our footy club, and we think that when he gets up and going in the second half of the season, he’ll be a really valuable contributor for us.”