Sam Mitchell has conceded veteran Chad Wingard is "far from" his best form, with the Hawthorn coach putting the onus on his battling forward to "be more potent in front of goal" as he looks to snap a difficult start to the season.
Wingard was kept goalless for the fifth time in seven games on Saturday as Melbourne handed the Hawks a nine-goal defeat, with Wingard's season tally remaining at two majors for 2023.
Mitchell has tasked the 29-year-old with recapturing a better brand of his game in attack instead of running the former Port Adelaide star through the midfield to get a greater glimpse on the game.
Wingard hasn't appeared at a single centre bounce attendance this season as Mitchell hands the baton over to his emerging midfield ranks, with Jai Newcombe, Conor Nash, James Worpel and Will Day all placed as priorities in the centre.
A poor string of performances for Wingard won't force Mitchell into moving his magnet, with the Hawks mentor hoping the South Australian can find some form in the attacking third of the field.
"Trying to get Chad involved in the game is important for him, but with our group, our midfield is actually the one area that's going quite well," Mitchell told reporters after his side's loss to the Demons.
"We've got Worpel, Nash, Newcombe and Day, normally you have four mids that get the lion's share of midfield minutes, and if any of those guys sort of start to fall away there's still Josh Ward and Dylan Moore, Connor MacDonald and Cam Mackenzie. So there's eight players who are going to play through the middle on the ground.
"Chad knowsย that he's got to be more potent in front of goal and look for scoring opportunities for us. He's not in the finest run of form of his career, far from it, so he's going to have to continue and to try to find some form playing in the front half."
Saturday's affair against Melbourne was staged as a prime opportunity for Wingard to prove his worth in Mitchell's forward line, with small forward Tyler Brockman missing through suspension while Fergus Greene was omitted for the match.
While the Hawks could only muster the seven goals in the loss, Wingard failed to hit the scoreboard from his eight possessions. Returning forward Sam Butler and veteran sharpshooter Luek Bruesy were among the goalkickers, placing further pressure on Wingard's selection chances for Round 10.
Mitchell understood the difficulty smaller-framed forwards face to have a large impact on the game, particularly in losses, not viewing motivation as an area of concern for Wingard.
The Hawks coach noted his Round 9 opponents were in a similar situation not too long ago in needing to iron out roles for each player, believing the youthful Hawks are in a similar stage and that Wingard is equally needing to 'get the job done'.
"I don't think motivation is the issue," Mitchell said of Wingard's struggles.
"I think there's a lot of aspects of playing as a forward. Luke Breust is down there playing in a very similar role. We know that small forwards might only have eight or 10 possessions in a game and be close to the best player on the ground with chasing and tackling pressure.
"A lot of our goals came from that type of play today where we were able to put forward half pressure on Melbourne, and part of Chad's job is to be able to create that forward-half pressure.
"The way that we want this team to play and the way we saw with Melbourne that it didn't always work for them in the building of their model. But they've got to a point now where they know what each other are doing all the time and that's what we're going through, the ebbs and flows of that process at the moment.
"That's how it has to work. Everyone has to play their role and get their own job done."
Hawthorn will be a live chance to secure their second win of the season when they host West Coast - another side with just one win for the year - in Tasmania next weekend.
