HAWTHORN Coach Alastair Clarkson says his team will be doing everything in their power to defeat the Magpies at the MCG on Saturday.
The Hawthorn Coach says the fact that the Hawks could face the Magpies in the finals is irrelevant.
Clarkson is aware that the AFL landscape in constantly changing, and that applies to tactics employed by all clubs.
“We’ve never been a club that holds anything back,” he said at the Ricoh Centre on Friday.
“We just focus on how we’re going to try and win this game, knowing full well that in the space of six to eight weeks, strategies, tactics and personnel can change significantly,” he said at the Ricoh Centre on Friday.
“Whatever tactics are used in this particular game won’t necessarily be exactly the same as what are used in the next time you happen to play them anyway.
“You’ve got to try and win the game of footy.”
Both the Hawks and Magpies are in good form heading into Saturday’s blockbuster, with the Hawks winning their past six matches, while the Magpies have won 11 of their past 12.
Clarkson says that Collingwood’s record over the past three months illustrates why they have been one of the best teams over the last two seasons.
It is that mindset that will spur on the Hawks, as they prepare to test themselves against one of the competition’s benchmarks.
“. It’s a great game of footy because we’re testing ourselves against probably the best side in the competition over the bulk of the last 24 months,” Clarkson said.
“It’s going to be a great test of where we’re at as a footy club, and we’re looking forward to that challenge.
”We’ve had some real ding dong battles with the Pies over the last three or four years, and we’d expect no different tomorrow.”
The Hawks take on the Magpies for the second time this season, after Hawthorn defeated Collingwood by 22 points in the opening round of the home-and-away season.
Clarkson says though, that the blockbuster is just another game for the Hawks as the Club attempts to win its seventh straight match.
“It’s just another game of footy really,” Clarkson said.
“We still have another five or six games to play after this one.”
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