Since the bye in Round 13, the Hawks have seemingly turned their season around with several great performances against some of the competition's best.
It got us thinking; where do we sit in the league in terms of current form?
We've used the results of the last five AFL rounds to reshuffle the ladder and give us an indication.
AFL ladder post Round 13:
Team | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points For | Points Agt | % | Points |
Sydney | 5 | 0 | 0 | 486 | 328 | 148.17 | 20 |
Adelaide | 4 | 0 | 1 | 482 | 358 | 134.64 | 16 |
Richmond | 4 | 0 | 1 | 407 | 385 | 105.71 | 16 |
Hawthorn | 3 | 1 | 1 | 496 | 409 | 121.27 | 14 |
Geelong | 3 | 1 | 1 | 463 | 394 | 117.51 | 14 |
Essendon | 3 | 0 | 2 | 534 | 418 | 127.75 | 12 |
Port Adelaide | 3 | 0 | 2 | 468 | 371 | 126.15 | 12 |
Western Bulldogs | 3 | 0 | 2 | 424 | 415 | 102.17 | 12 |
St Kilda | 3 | 0 | 2 | 446 | 442 | 100.9 | 12 |
Melbourne | 3 | 0 | 2 | 397 | 444 | 89.41 | 12 |
GWS | 1 | 2 | 2 | 439 | 411 | 106.81 | 8 |
West Coast | 2 | 0 | 3 | 430 | 436 | 98.62 | 8 |
Collingwood | 2 | 0 | 3 | 432 | 501 | 86.22 | 8 |
Brisbane | 2 | 0 | 3 | 447 | 585 | 76.4 | 8 |
Fremantle | 1 | 0 | 4 | 330 | 419 | 78.76 | 4 |
Gold Coast | 1 | 0 | 4 | 385 | 533 | 72.23 | 4 |
Carlton | 0 | 0 | 5 | 361 | 457 | 78.99 | 0 |
North Melbourne | 0 | 0 | 5 | 449 | 570 | 78.77 | 0 |
This Friday night Hawthorn takes on Sydney in what is set to be a blockbuster MCG clash between two of the in-form sides of the competition.
In what has been a miraculous turn of form after starting the season 0-6, the Swans have won 10 of their 11 games, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Hawks in Round 10.
Sydney are now firming as a genuine premiership threat with almost their entire best 22 fit and firing as they enter the final phase of the home and away season.
But the Hawks’ form since they rounded the turn for the second half of the season has been comparable to the Swans’ surge.
Having faced each of the current top 3 sides over the last five weeks, the Hawks have been able to challenge the competition’s best recording a 14-point win, a draw and a 3-point loss to the league’s leading trio.
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In a ladder reflecting the last five rounds of the season, the Hawks place fourth with only Sydney, Richmond and Adelaide slightly ahead of their 3-1-1 record.
The Hawks have been able to rediscover some of their best football, scoring in high numbers while remaining staunch in defence.
Only Essendon, who have encountered three of the bottom six sides over the period, have scored more points than the Hawks.
While, on the defensive end, the Hawks have conceded the sixth least points of any team in the competition over the five-week block.
This Friday night marks a clash of enormous proportions for both sides, as Sydney set their sights on a top-four berth while the Hawks are yet to relinquish hope of an astonishing finals berth for themselves.
It is a testament to both powerhouse clubs that the notion of finals is still being entertained after neither side was able to record a win in the first month of this season.
