North Melbourne great David King has labelled Hawthorn as “almost a certainty” to feature in the finals campaign this season due to a favourable draw in the back-end of the year.
The Hawks currently sit in ninth position on the table with seven wins and five losses, but King has no doubt they will climb the ladder in the coming rounds.
“They don’t play a team inside the eight for eight weeks,” King told SEN's Whateley.
“That is an amazing opportunity for this club and this master coach to show why they are always a threat.
“They fashion ways to win.”
King praised the Hawks brand of football and said they are capable of mounting some monumental victories during their soft fixture.
“They’re almost a certainty to make the eight,” he said.
“And if they don’t make it on wins, they’ll make it on percentage.
“Given that next eight weeks they’ll be having some wins and they’ll be having some big wins across that journey.”
Hawthorn will face Gold Coast at University of Tasmania Stadium on Saturday afternoon and play GWS, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, Carlton, Fremantle and Essendon over the next seven weeks.