HEADING into round 21 Hawthorn remains a mathematical chance to play finals in 2009, but a title defence could not be further from Alastair Clarkson's mind.

Richmond can put an end to the Hawks' faint hopes with a win on Saturday night, but a more consistent effort and not keeping the finals flame flickering is Clarkson's main objective.

"We haven't really spoken about [finals] too much for the whole year really," Clarkson said from Waverley Park on Friday.

"Those sorts of things work themselves out from week to week if you play good enough consistent football. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case on enough occasions this year for us to put ourselves consistently in the hunt.

"If we perform well on Saturday then we'll wait and see what happens, but we're now relying on other sides to lose and you're never in a good position when that happens."

Clarkson is hopeful the inclusions of hard-luck story Max Bailey and debutant Riley Milne will provide the spark that will propel the Hawks to victory.

"It's always a good way of injecting a bit of enthusiasm when you bring guys in who haven't played too much senior footy," he said. "Those two boys should give us a real lift."

Milne, a rebounding half-back off the rookie list, will be the club's seventh debutant of the year which Clarkson admitted was one of the few positives to be gleaned from a horror run of injuries to experienced players.

Bailey, the 18th selection overall at the 2005 NAB AFL Draft, will play just his fifth career game after successive knee reconstructions ruined the past two seasons.

"He's done it harder than most for the first three years of his career," Clarkson agreed.

"He's done some hard yards, but he's been really resilient and positive these last two years. It will be a special moment for him to run out against the Tigers on Saturday night.

"He's a very popular member of our football club. He's held in high regard for the way he goes about his work, but also for the talent that he's got and what he'd be able to contribute if we were able to get him on the park consistently."