Brad Sewell was stunned by his shock omission from the Hawthorn line-up midway through last season, but it was the wake-up call he needed. The ultra-consistent midfielder has not missed a beat since and has played a key role in the Hawks’ return to premiership contention.

IT WAS the week of round 16 last year. Hawthorn, after a dreadful start to the season, had won seven of its previous eight games and was getting set for a flight to Tasmania to play the Brisbane Lions.

Midfielder Brad Sewell had no reason to believe his services would not be needed on the trip.

Having broken his collarbone in a pre-season match against North Melbourne back in March, he had returned to the Hawks’ line-up by round five and played every match since.

Although a nagging PCL injury had restricted his run for much of the year, he thought he was going along OK.

And 29 disposals against Port Adelaide in round 11 suggested the form that saw him win the best and fairest award in 2007 was not too far off.

But coach Alastair Clarkson saw it differently, and decided to deliver the then-26-year-old a very public wake-up call.

When the 22 whiteboard magnets fell into place on selection night, Sewell’s name was not on any of them.

"It did give me a jolt," Sewell told the AFL Record this week. "I knew it hadn’t been one of my better years, but I certainly hadn’t seen it coming, and it certainly gave me a nasty shock."

As luck would have it, superstar forward Lance Franklin was struggling with an ankle injury and didn’t come up for the game, with Sewell the late replacement. (Did Clarkson have a plan all along? Sewell doesn't know.)

That Sewell eventually took the field didn't matter - he had heard the coach's message.

"I'd played games throughout the first half of the season at a good level, and then dropped away again a week later," he said.

"So consistency was the issue. That was the message, and that scare against Brisbane in Tassie turned things around a bit."

The turnaround was instant. The 2008 premiership player was in devastating touch against the Lions, collecting 39 possessions in a best-on-ground performance in the 75-point win. And his form has not been an issue Clarkson has had to worry about since.

Sewell averaged better than 22 touches a game for the remainder of the 2010 season (and never fell below 17), and is tracking at a similar level again this year, having played every game.

It has been well publicised that an injection of new talent into Hawthorn's line-up has been a major factor in the team’s strong 9-3 start to the season. Sewell endorsed that line of thought, but he also believed an increased level of - that word - "consistency" from senior players was as much a reason.

"It's a lot easier for young players to come in and have an impact on games when the club and the team itself are going well, and I think the majority of that responsibility rests on the senior players," Sewell said.

"Last year, the senior group probably didn’t contribute to a level we're capable of. Whereas this year, the senior group has been a lot more consistent, and that instils confidence into the younger players coming into the side and enables them to play with a lot more flair and a lot more confidence.

"That's what we’re seeing at the moment."

Sewell said it was hard to know exactly why the group had player better this season, after showing only glimpses of what it was capable of over the past two years.

But he dismissed any notion that a "hunger" had returned that might not have been so strong in the aftermath of premiership glory.

"There are a whole number of reasons why we performed the way we did over the past two years, but that hunger aspect of it doesn’t really wash with me," he said.

"It might be one of a large number of contributing factors, but we'd be talking about a very minimal percentage."

More likely, it's been the result of better health and a more complete pre-season.

"I can't say what it is; all I know is that our preparation, dating back to this year's pre-season, has been a lot more consistent," Sewell said.

"Across the board, we had a higher number of guys do a greater percentage of the pre-season.

"At the end of the day, it’s that indicator that suggests we’ll have a better year."

That same health indicator is now pointing, in the eyes of many experienced judges, to a rapid slide out of premiership contention for the fourth-placed Hawks.

Key forward Jarryd Roughead (who had been a revelation in a ruck role) and ruckman Brent Renouf recently joined key defenders Ben Stratton and Stephen Gilham in the long-term injury ward. Ruckman David Hale and other senior midfielders have also been hampered by injuries.

Adding to the worries, youngster Ryan Schoenmakers, who stepped seamlessly into the defensive role vacated by Gilham earlier in the year, is now struggling with a sore foot.

And there is the one-week suspension for Franklin, which will see the Hawks take the field on Friday night missing both Franklin and Roughead for the first time since round 22, 2009.

"We haven't bought into any of that sort of stuff," Sewell said of talk the Hawks had their backs against the wall.

"And, to be honest, we hadn't bought into any of it when they said we were contenders, as opposed to not being contenders."

Instead, he and the club are focussing on the positive results the enforced changes have delivered.

"What it has done is given guys the opportunity to play at (AFL) level, where otherwise they might have battled to squeeze into the side," he said.

"And that has been a huge bonus for those guys on a personal level but, for the club, it's been a massive positive that they've been able to come in and not only contribute, but influence games of football as well."

That impressive young bunch, headlined by Shane Savage, Liam Shiels and Matt Suckling, faced another big test this week against Essendon in front what was expected to be a huge Friday night crowd at the MCG.

Sewell expected the clash between the traditional rivals to be as heated as ever. “Contests between Hawthorn and Essendon have always been very, very physical and quite emotional as well,” he said.

"That brings the best out in the players and the supporters, and the games themselves are usually great."

Sewell had no doubt the ill feeling forged during the 1980s, when the teams played in three straight Grand Finals (1983-85) still burned among current players.

A series of volcanic encounters over the past eight years, including the 2004 'line in the sand game' and a 2005 match where young Hawk Josh Thurgood had his cheekbone broken in a clash with Matthew Lloyd, ensured the rivalry continued.

So did the most recent flashpoint, in the last round of 2009. With a finals spot on the line and Hawthorn up by 22 points, Lloyd ran from outside the centre square as the ball was bounced to start the third quarter and cannoned into Sewell.

The tough midfielder went down in a heap and was stretchered from the field, suffering a fractured cheekbone and eye socket.

Essendon ran away with a three-goal win to eliminate the defending premier from the final race.

In an explosive post-match interview on Triple M, Hawks defender Campbell Brown - now with Gold Coast - was critical of Lloyd. Earlier, as the players and coaches left the field, Clarkson had also shown his fury at Lloyd.

For his part, Sewell said he felt no ill-will towards the now-retired Bombers champion. "There’s no bad blood (with Lloyd), and there never really was," he said.

"That incident effectively resulted in Essendon winning that game, and I've got no doubt one of our guys would do the same if that's what was required."

But that’s not to say the hit didn’t still sit fresh in the minds of Hawthorn players, who remained determined to ensure their opponents would have to earn every kick on Friday night.

"There was obviously a bit of bad blood (between the two clubs) around that incident at the time, and that’s the fuel that drives both clubs to have a win."