And yet, should Hawthorn end up mounting the premiership dais on October 3, still one that will pale by comparison given the series of obstacles the Hawks have had to overcome in 2015.

Football clubs learn to expect the unexpected. But for Hawthorn, there have been constant dealings not just with the departures of key staff, but far bigger matters of illness, death, tragedy and grief.

The loss of assistant coach Brendon Bolton to Carlton this week threw up another round of practical issues. But at least they were more standard human resources practices than the necessary reactions to life's frailty. Of which, sadly, there have been too many.

Since the start of July, Hawthorn have dealt with stuff that no football club could ever possibly foresee.

They've had Jarryd Roughead diagnosed with skin cancer. Just days after dealing with that shock, they, like the rest of the football world, had to digest another with the murder of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh. Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson and fitness man Andrew Russell both worked alongside him for years at Port Adelaide.

Fewer than two weeks ago, assistant coach Brett Ratten tragically lost his 16-year-old son Cooper in a car accident. Now, on the eve of their finals campaign, a trusted lieutenant in Bolton has left the building.

Hawthorn aren't looking for sympathy. "You can't use this sort of stuff as an excuse," one club source said on Thursday. And the Hawks haven't had to, last Friday night's loss to Port Adelaide only their second defeat in the past 12 games. No other club has racked up as many wins over the same period.

But the reticence is as much about sensitivity to those directly affected by what's happened, and to other clubs should they have to deal with similar matters in the future.

"We don't want to look like we're superstars at dealing with this, because we're not," the insider said. "It's been a process involving the whole club, and there's no right or wrong way to feel. If there's been any lessons for our people, it's that these are the sorts of things in life that you simply have to deal with."

What has also shone through, however, is Hawthorn's strength as an organisation, the support and resources offered to anyone who has needed them constant, and unwavering, the unbreakable links in that chain football manager Chris Fagan, chief executive Stuart Fox and Clarkson.

When the awful news of Walsh's death emerged early on the morning of Friday, July 3, Hawthorn was scheduled to play Collingwood that evening, and that morning, the coaching panel was to meet.

Much of the first 30 minutes of that meeting was spent talking about the tragedy, as Clarkson, Russell and the other coaches shared their feelings. Then for several hours, players and coaches were updated about whether the game would even proceed.

When it did, Hawthorn not only scored a victory, but after Clarkson had discussed with opposite number Nathan Buckley an appropriate post-game tribute to Walsh, they and the Pies managed one of the most moving scenes football has seen.

Two weekends ago, Fagan was phoned by Ratten's wife Jo at 7.30 on Sunday morning to tell him about Cooper's death.

Fagan was there immediately. In between contacting Fox, Clarkson and ensuring that no player or staff member hadn't been notified before the news became public, he rang team manager Ric Sprake, who through a contact in the catering industry organised the delivery of food and drink for the army of people who would be visiting the Ratten household.

On Monday, an army of Hawthorn officials and players attended Cooper's funeral in Lilydale, club chaplain Bill Vassiliou, leading the service.

The Hawks still aren't sure when Ratten will return to work, making the business of delegating coaching duties in light of Bolton's departure even more complicated. But they are determined to make sure Ratten feels no pressure to return. And that if he is struggling when he does so, that he feels no guilt should he need to step away again.

Bolton finishes up at the club on Friday, having spent the past couple of days handing over his forward-line responsibilities to development coach Damian Carroll.

Last week, Carroll, Hawthorn's "Mr Fixit", looked after Ratten's area of stoppages. Against Brisbane in Launceston on Saturday, that responsibility will fall to midfield coach Cameron Bruce and high performance coach David Rath.

The Hawthorn show will go on, with as little disruption as possible. It's becoming familiar turf for this most resilient of football clubs.

While the Hawks remain flag favourites, Clarkson and co. know well that from third spot and potentially not just one but two road trips to Perth to play finals, a premiership from here will be the high point of the club's entire history.

Three flags in a row would be unprecedented for the Hawks. But yet another September triumph given what the club has dealt with lately would present a testimony to both spirit and triumph over adversity the scale of which even this magnificent club hasn't seen before.