The Hawks won the clearance count on Sunday for the third time in the opening five games of their 2021 campaign.

It was an area of the game that the Hawks clearly needed to improve on the back of last year, having ranked 18th in the competition for clearances.

Sitting rock bottom the only way was up, and that appears to be the direction the Hawks are trending in.

The next phase of progression is making the most of these advantages being generated, converting clearances into inside 50s and inside 50s into scores.

That didn't happen against the Dees on Sunday.

Clarko: Learn from the positives as much as the negatives

Despite the clearance buffer, the Hawks entered their forward 50 on 20 less occasions than Melbourne and recorded just five marks inside 50 compared to their opposition's 17. 

A lack of marks inside 50 is usually reflected by a poor efficiency in converting entries into scores and that was also the case on Sunday, with the Hawks operating at just over 33% entry to score ratio.

In a bizarre, but very positive, twist, the Hawks recorded four more tackles (total) and three more tackles inside 50 than the Demons.

If nothing else, as a supporter, that is what you want to see - desperation.

The brown and gold effort and desire for the contest never waned and this was against a side, it must be said, that is yet to be defeated this season.

As Coach Alastair Clarkson said post-match, there are just as many lessons from the positives of the Hawks' performance on Sunday as there are the negatives.

So, let's not lose sight of those good things!