Tom Mitchell suggests Hawthorn has lacked a bit of toughness as well as hunger in 2020.
The Hawks are currently struggling in 16th position on the ladder with four wins for the season and just one triumph from their last seven games.
Star midfielder Mitchell admits he and his teammates have been devoid of a few key attributes that usually set them apart from the other teams in the competition.
“We know that we probably haven’t been tough enough as a team this year,” he said on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“We’ve probably played teams that are hungrier and that’s something that we’re going to address.
“Hopefully with some new players coming into the team and some youth, that hunger really comes back and we can go back to really fighting to wanting to win games.”
Regarding the Hawks under current captain Ben Stratton, there has been talk in recent times of perhaps a replacement waiting in the wings. Mitchell admits he’d love to skipper the club if he was lucky enough to be asked.
“If the opportunity came my way and I was seen to be the best person to do the job then I’d be more than willing to do that,” the 2018 Brownlow Medallist added.
“The priority, I think for all of us, is just to get the club back to having a winning culture.
“Whatever we need to do to do that, whoever the right person to lead us in that direction, I’m sure we’ll all just follow that person and get back to where we want to be.”
The Hawks suffered a cruel blow late in last weekend’s loss to West Coast when James Sicily went down with a serious knee injury which has since been confirmed as a ruptured ACL that will sideline him for up to 12 months.
Mitchell felt for his teammate who has been one of the club’s top few performers in what has been a difficult season to date.
“It was pretty heartbreaking, not only for Sis, but all of us,” Mitchell said of the star defender.
“He’s such a good mate to a lot of us. For something like that to happen really late in the game to someone having a really great season, developing as a leader and person every week, it was a tough pill to swallow.
“But he’ll get a lot of support and we’ll get him through the challenging period of what he’s about to face. Hopefully he can come back bigger and better.”
The Hawks will look to get back on the winners’ list when they meet top-of-the-table Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.