“It seems silly to say there were some really positive signs in a five-goal loss… but we saw some positive steps forward for our club today.” 

It was a tough night in many ways, but despite having their backs against the wall throughout the game, the Hawks never dropped their heads. 

“It would have been really easy to turn our toes up and say listen, this is all just too hard, but we hung in there,” Coach Alastair Clarkson said after the game. 

“We weren’t disgraced at all. We had some times in the game where we played much better footy than what we’ve been playing. 

“We’ll take some positives out of the game, but we’re disappointed that we lost.”

While Clarkson’s empathy and disappointment in losing star defender James Sicily to a now-confirmed ACL was evident, the coach searched for the silver lining – as he so often does.

“We’ll keep trying to find some players," he said.

“Sis misses, Isaac’s out, some of our leaders and better players will miss some footy, but it’ll give an opportunity to some younger players.”

Read: Sicily injury blow confirmed

Sicily’s injury is the latest blow in what has been a horror six weeks for the Hawks, who have saluted in just one of their last six matches.

However, despite the difficulties being thrown up by season 2020, Clarkson says he can’t fault the resolve of his playing group.

“It’s a challenge for every team in the competition (at the moment).

“That’s the way the season is, and it’s tough, but in terms of the morale and the vibe and the way they’ve conducted themselves…the spirit has been good, and the staff have been amazing.

“We can’t fault our group in terms of their mindset and their attitude to help out the game and help out the club in a time that’s pretty tough for everyone involved.

“As we’ve said, we’re privileged to do this, there’s plenty of people who are doing it a lot tougher than us.

“We dip our lid to those people and we’ve got heavy hearts for them, particularly those who are losing opportunities to work and maintain their normal way of living, but that’s just something we’ve got to all work our way through over the next little while.” 

The Hawks have now departed Perth on a plane bound for Adelaide, with the club’s third interstate hub to be in the Barossa Valley for at least three weeks.