HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson hopes experienced midfielder Sam Mitchell will become more of a mentor to younger players next year after relinquishing the captaincy to Luke Hodge.

Hodge, 26, took over as skipper at the end of the season after Mitchell's three years at the helm.

Clarkson said the move was not likely to change Mitchell's on-field performance but he expected it to significantly change his role off it.

"It's probably hard for Mitch to improve his game and I don't say that in an arrogant sense. He's been such a consistent performer for a long period of time now," he told SEN on Thursday.

"His on-field contribution will still be consistent but off field he'll take more of a mentoring role and not be so much the spokesman of the club like he's had to be in the last three years."

Clarkson said Mitchell would continue to have some off-field commitments but would look for more contribution from players such as Hodge, Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis and Brad Sewell in public roles.

He said the Hawks had been unable to recapture their 2008 premiership winning form over the past two seasons because of an inability to change within a match.

"My observation over a long period of time is you build to a position to win a premiership and then once you get to that position, hopefully you'll have a period where you hang around and are pretty competitive for that time," Clarkson said.

"The methods you used to build up and win that flag are probably the methods you'd use for the next two or three years to win the next one.

"In 2009 we had so many injuries that many of us, including outside the club, thought it was the injuries that caused Hawthorn to be going downhill a little bit.

"In actual fact, the game changed enormously and has continued to change.

"The method we try to use to win our next flag, whether it's 2011 or beyond, will be far, far different from the methods we used in 2008."

Clarkson said the Hawks' 43-point loss to Essendon in round six of this season was the key moment where they realised they hadn't moved quickly enough with the changing game.

He also said new recruit and former Melbourne player Cameron Bruce could possibly play for another two or three years.