West Coast defender Will Schofield agrees that facing an angry Hawthorn after a loss is intimidating.
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But the Eagles should be boosted by the return of Jeremy McGovern for a Domain Stadium clash on Saturday night that has no much on the line.
If the Hawks lose again, after going down to Richmond last Friday, their chances of finishing in the top two and snatching a home final in the first week of finals diminish dramatically.
If the Eagles lose, they go from a team eyeing a top-two finish to potentially in a battle to stay in the top four – with top side Fremantle waiting for them the following week.
The Hawks have won the past four contests against the Eagles – played at four different venues.
In their previous meeting in Perth – round two, 2013 – Hawthorn won by 25 points. The Hawks also won the only meeting between the two sides since Adam Simpson swapped colours, by 44 points at Aurora Stadium in round 12 last season.
"They have got stars all over the field," Schofield said.
"The star quality comes with experience as well. They have great leaders in the back half, midfield and up forward as well.
"The great teams have that great leadership aspect and they have it in spades and that's why they have won two in a row and are going for three.
"It's intimidating, but on the other hand, we're really excited about coming up against them and we're looking forward to it."
West Coast has the Coleman Medal leader, Josh Kennedy, with 58 goals. Mark LeCras is the next best, ranked 23rd in the AFL with 32 goals.
The Hawks are led by Jack Gunston and Luke Breust, with 40 and 39 goals respectively and Jarryd Roughead, who was sidelined for a couple of games due to a melanoma, has one less than LeCras – 31. Cyril Rioli has kicked 25 goals and Paul Puopolo 24.
For that reason, Schofield says the Hawks are the toughest team for a defender to prepare to play against.
"That's why they're the best in the comp. You can't let your guard down with anyone," Schofield said.
"[Roughead] is an interesting player. I'll be doing my due diligence on him but they've got other good players as well.
"Even their smalls bob up and kick bags. Breust will kick a bag of goals. So you can't just focus on Roughead or Gunston - you've got to do a fair bit of research on their whole unit because if one gets held down someone else will just pop up."
Which is why the return of a fit McGovern is crucial to the Eagles' chances.
Schofield said the key defender, who missed the past two games – a win over Sydney and a draw with the Gold Coast – due to a hamstring injury, was running freely late last week.
Which is good news, as Simpson said he had needed to be passed fit by club medicos before the weekend just gone, so that he could participate in training this week and be available to play the Hawks.
Schofield said the side had done well in McGovern's absence, but looked forward to having him back in the line-up.
"I think we managed pretty well. Tom Barrass came into the team, and I thought he was excellent on the weekend," he said.
"Looking forward to [McGovern] if he does get back in. He definitely adds something to our team. What he does with the footy as well, he is able to read and intercept marks.. It's easy to forget how many games Jez has played, he's pretty inexperienced.
"It's great playing with him because you can back him in going into a contest to at least half it – that's what I like about having him in the team – he gets himself into contests and either wins or halves them."
