Even a third successive premiership from Hawthorn's current crop will not match the club's 1980s dynasty, according to former president Jeff Kennett.

Before the Hawks' attempt to achieve a rare feat — a contest Kennett said he would not be surprised if it were Luke Hodge's last as captain — the erstwhile club boss described coach Alastair Clarkson's roundedness as peerless in Australian sport.

But he said the Hawthorn teams that made seven consecutive grand finals and won four flags between 1983 and 1989 remained in a league of their own.

"Regardless of the result tomorrow — so win or lose — the group of the '80s, in my opinion, are dominant over the group today," said Kennett on the eve of the season climax.

"I'm not even looking at three-zip, but my view is that I've always thought the ''80s group was by far the most dominant, and the '89 grand final was the best grand final I've ever seen. The toughest and the hardest."

Hawthorn's players and coaches of the '80s, Kennett added, dominated "under different circumstances, different training, different facilities and with different knowledge".

"And I think they were tougher circumstances. It was an extraordinary period for the Hawthorn Football Club," he said.

Suggesting that  it was time for Hodge to hand over the captaincy, Kennett forecast a player-leadership transition was imminent. Premiership skipper in 2008 Sam Mitchell bequeathed the role at the end of 2010.

"Now at this stage, Luke's a two-time premiership captain; he may end up with three. But I think you'll find there will be a time very shortly when Luke Hodge says 'righto, Sam Mitchell did the right thing to me, it's part of culture to share responsibility,' " Kennett said.

"I think you'll find that's one of the things going through Luke's mind."

Having infamously stated — in April 2013, before the Hawks' went on to win that season's premiership — that Clarkson should either be sacked or stand aside, Kennett now considers the coach "probably the best-educated sports person in a coaching role across any sport in Australia".

"I think he could easily go and coach our Olympic team, whether at basketball or anything else," the ex-Victorian premier said.

"He's so well rounded because every year he goes overseas to look at what's happening ... and he will go down, regardless of the result tomorrow, alongside John Kennedy and Allan Jeans as being among our most successful coaches.

"The problem is that no other sport pays anywhere near as much as they pay in AFL football. So if he was to take another job it would mean a substantial sacrifice in salary and I'm quite sure that would be bearing down on Alastair's mind and [his wife] Caryn's mind as they try to build up their assets to provide for themselves and their children. So that's a decision he'll make, and the club, in due course.

"He is already part of our folklore, but I just stress he couldn't win that game without the players and without the administrators who have supported him throughout his career at Hawthorn."

Kennett rates the modern Hawks as the best AFL club, in terms of administrators, coaches and players, "by a mile". Even so, before the battle with West Coast he admitted he was "not confident we're going to win".