THROUGHOUT the week, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson reiterated the Hawks' clash against unbeaten ladder leaders Geelong was always going to be their 'real test.'

But despite his side eventually going down to the Cats by five points and in the process adding another chapter to their classic rivalry with 2008 Grand Final opponent, the Hawthorn coach believes improvements have been made since their last defeat.

Ironically, the last time Hawthorn tasted defeat was against Geelong by 19-points in round five.

"We're around about the mark but we wanted to use tonight to see if we have made some improvements since round five and I think we have."

"But we just need to be a bit more polished with the way we use the footy."

Describing the match as an "Agatha Christie" novel, the Hawks held a 17-point lead heading into the final quarter before failing to register a single behind in the final term to be eventually overrun by the Cats.

The result means the Hawks haven't tasted success against the Cats since their premiership, with five of their previous six losses to Geelong being under ten points.

"There was so many plots and sub-themes and the game just ebbed and flowed and changed so much," he said.

After restricting the Cats to just four behinds in the third term, the Hawks could only manage six inside 50 entries in the final term compared to their opponents 16.

"Their defence is the cornerstone of their game and at different stages we were able to penetrate that… we obviously couldn't do that well in the last quarter," he said.

"The dam wall could've broken, but bottom line is we didn't make good enough
decisions with our ball movement.

"We couldn't nail a couple of crucial balls in the last quarter that might've just wrested the momentum that Geelong had and brought it back our way."

Clarkson refused be drawn on the non free-kick paid to Lance Franklin deep in the last quarter. Tom Lonergan appeared to have his hands in the back of the Hawthorn superstar forward and the fans were adamant this was the case.

"I don't think it is worth going down that track," he said.

"There are many other areas of the game we have to focus on as the reason why we need to get better rather than worrying about whether an umpiring decision was going to be the critical factor."

Clarkson could not question the effort of his side which battled manfully, despite losing Jarryd Roughead to a season-ending Achilles injury in the last quarter and Clinton Young, who was forced off the ground just before half-time with hamstring tightness.

"We played a quality side. They're not on top of the ladder and unbeaten for any other reason. They are a great outfit and such a resilient and disciplined group and we just ran out of legs and a couple of soldiers near the end," he said.

"Our blokes were brave, but bravery doesn't necessary win you big games and Grand Finals. We have to improve a bit but our boys will benefit enormously from the experience tonight."

With Roughead set to miss the remainder of the season, Clarkson said the club would monitor the progress of Young throughout the week before their trip to Launceston to take on the Suns next Saturday afternoon.