The Hawks are the hottest ticket in town and hopes to still be beyond the next fortnight.
The team that has won nine of their last 11 matches, many in convincing fashion over credentials clubs, should welcome some more run and dash come Round 23 against Richmond when defender Changkuoth Jiath hopes to return.
The Hawks need no help in their rebounding defender stocks if Sunday afternoon is any indication, yet they find themselves facing selection headaches ahead of September, where they could realistically inflict some serious damage.
Jiath was ruled out of Hawthorn's demolition of Carlton last week with a calf niggle, but his production was more than made up for with Karl Amon, Jarman Impey and the like fulfilling their duty in defence to explosive effect.
"He probably was okay to play last week, he just had a bit of a tight calf. So long as that clears up, Changkuoth will be available to play," coach Sam Mitchell told reporters.
"He's a really important player for us and we want to make sure that we don't put him at risk."
Looking no further than this Sunday against Richmond, Sam Mitchell is not getting ahead of himself, but does expect his side's style of play to hold up in the biggest games of the year.
"The challenge is, in a game that most people expect us to win, can we continue to perform the things that have got us to this point. And if we can't, then we don't deserve to be there anyway," the coach declared.
"There's certain ways you can play that are more suitable to a high pressure game that finals usually are; there's usually less marks, there's usually more pressure, there's usually more mistakes... we've tried to play a game style that will stand up, but time will tell.
"No one's wanted tickets to Hawthorn games more than they do right now."
The footy world has marvelled over Hawthorn's winning ways and exciting style with such widespread production from each of their 22 players, limiting the concern for their coach when star players have an off day.
Questions regarding a potential need to rest versatile midfielder Will Day were put to rest by Sam Mitchell, who highlighted the secret weapon to their success.
"He's (Day) been sat on pretty tightly the last two weeks, he's carried a heavy workload for us the majority of the season," Mitchell shared.
"We're not looking at resting players, we're definitely far from that state of mind. This is a final for us, we lose this game (and) our season's over.
"The good thing about the way we're playing at the minute, particularly in the midfield, is it's quite even, we don't really rely on any individual player and they're all able to step up and perform on their day.
"The bad games of that group are still pretty strong performances."
The Hawks need to win their remaining matches to qualify for finals, but up against Richmond and North Melbourne, they should make the cut and may be a problem for contenders come September.
They are tracking to be the sole side in the eight with the MCG as their primary home ground, with the finals race stacked with interstate sides and Marvel or Kardinia-based Victorian clubs.
September shapes to be one of the most highly anticipated and exciting finals campaigns in recent memory, especially if these Hawks can feature.
