FOR weeks, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has been talking about his side's tough run to start 2016 - which has included matches against current top eight sides in Geelong, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide and GWS Giants.

And according to the stats, that's exactly how it stands.

The Hawks have had the second toughest start of any club - behind only Brisbane Lions - across the first seven rounds, according to Champion Data analyis.

So a 5-2 start to the year might be a deceptively good one, with the Hawks still admitting their best football is ahead of them this year.

The Hawks and last year's Grand Final opponent West Coast, as well as finals aspirant Greater Western Sydney, are the big winners after Round 7 in a fixture that could go a long way to shaping a wide-open premiership race.

The draw difficulty rankings are based on each team's points for and against after seven rounds.
 
For example, Geelong is considered the toughest team to face with an average points differential of +46.8 over seven games.  

At the other end of the spectrum, Essendon is considered the easiest opponent with an average points differential of -43.4.
 
The final difficulty rating of a team's draw is the average points differential of its remaining opponents.
 
So if a team played the Cats and Bombers back-to-back, the difficulty rating of that fortnight would be considered 1.7 (+46.8 + -43.4 /2).  
 
Back-to-back matches against form teams Geelong and the Sydney Swans, whose average points differential is 39.7, would have a much higher difficulty ranking of 43.25 (46.8 + 39.7 /2).  
 
The revised rankings paint a much different picture after seven rounds because of the dramatic falls of Fremantle and Richmond, and the Giants' drive up the ladder.
 
Collingwood, fresh off a loss to last year's wooden spooner Carlton, faces seven of the top-eight teams in the run home, including the Western Bulldogs twice.
 
The Magpies' toughest run will come between rounds 16 and 19 when they face GWS, Adelaide, North Melbourne and West Coast. They finish their season against Hawthorn.
 
The Eagles, by comparison, face only five top eight times in the last 16 rounds, but must play Adelaide twice in that time as they seek a return to the Grand Final stage.
 
Three of their seven remaining road trips are against top eight teams.
 
Geelong was seen as the big winner when the 2016 fixture was released last year, and not much has changed for Chris Scott's men, who have enjoyed the fifth easiest draw so far.
 
It will only get slightly more difficult from here as the fancied Cats continue their push for the premiership with the 11th hardest draw.

How difficult has your club's draw been? How hard does it get?