Hawthorn Coach Sam Mitchell says his side will face a significant challenge come Sunday when it faces an in-form Brisbane at UTAS Stadium. 

Lions Coach Chris Fagan was Hawthorn's former General Manager of Football - while Mitchell was a player - before he left his position to take on the Lions coaching role.

“I do love Fages, we’ve spent a lot of time together and we get along really well," Mitchell said. 

“He has a really good system up there, you know what they’re going to do. It’s about trying to pull that apart and figure out how to beat them.

“They've been so consistent for such a long period now that we look at some of the things they do and try to work out how to pull it a part, which is a really interesting part of the game.

“We know exactly what they’re going to do on the weekend, and it's about what we can try to do to combat it."

Hear more from Mitchell's press conference on Thursday.

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