Another week and another set of winners and losers.

Although the road to the last Saturday in September has narrowed ever so slightly, each of the competition's 18 teams still hold their destinies in their own hands.

Whether your side is undefeated, breaking even or without a win to start 2021, there are questions, both new and historic, that must be answered to secure a win this long weekend.

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Hawthorn

What did Clarkson's kids learn?

Since addressing his troops at half-time of Round 1 until meeting with them again prior to the final portion of their clash against Richmond, Alastair Clarkson's Hawks had produced some pretty handy football.

Last week, we spoke about Hawthorn's sublime second half that saw them run over Ben Rutten's Bombers, but for the chunks of last Sunday afternoon, they looked a fighter's chance against the competition's benchmark team.

Although ultimately being shaded by just under five goals at the final siren, many members of Hawthorn's youthful side were able to both find plenty of the football and use it at a better rate than last season - namely defenders Blake Hardwick and Changkuoth Jiath.

Even though the Tigers were able to avoid most of Clarkson's kids punches across the length of the afternoon, the message from the master coach was surely to never stop throwing them.

For a team with an oddly comprised list, their season remains at 1-1 after the loss, but a belief that they can control a game โ€“ albeit only for portions โ€“ against a team of Richmond's calibre can only help rather than hinder their future endeavours.

The Hawks face the Cats, Dockers, Demons and Crows across the month of April, so realistically, they can strap themselves in as underdogs for the foreseeable future. However, despite this and despite the losses that should come, if Sunday taught us anything, it was that Hawthorn fans can expect to see their kids continue to make gains on their Rubik's cubes โ€“ or at least go down swinging.

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