They are lessons that the 32-year-old says the two-time reigning premiers will put into place against the up-and-coming Western Bulldogs in Launceston this weekend.

‘‘We shouldn’t have to wait until half-time, we should be doing it (playing well) from the start,’’ Burgoyne said, reflecting on the Bombers clash where the Hawks came from 35 points down in the second quarter to lose by two.

‘‘That was a good learning curve for us, and we’ve got a couple of younger players in the team this year, so it was a good lesson for them.

‘‘As the reigning premier, we know that teams are going to come out each week and really take it up to us, and we need to be ‘on’ every week.

‘‘So we need to come out and be ‘on’ from the first bounce each week, and that was a reminder.’’

The Hawks (1-1) host the undefeated Bulldogs on Sunday at 1.10pm. The Bulldogs have surprised the AFL world by playing an exciting brand of pressurised, fast-running football.

Burgoyne, who has the capabilities to play  forward, back or in the midfield, said he and his teammates couldn’t wait to take on the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Luke Dahlhaus, Jack Macrae and Mitch Honeychurch at their own game.

‘‘We are aware they are a really good pressure team and our team has played some really good pressure games over the last couple of years, so this is just another challenge,’’ the 271-game player said.

‘‘But we have those senior players in our team who have those calm heads.’’

The other factor to this contest is in the coach’s box, with former Hawk assistant Luke Beveridge calling the shots for the Dogs.

‘‘He has obviously brought in some new ideas, and that is reflecting in the way they are playing

‘‘He will have those ideas about us, but we have moved on and changed how we play a bit, but he will have that intimate knowledge of some of our players.

‘‘It is going to be an exciting challenge for us coming up against Bevo as a coach.’’

Sunday’s match is the Pink Ribbon contest, supporting breast cancer awareness, and Hawthorn’s players will wear special pink socks.

Burgoyne said it was a game that he was proud to be involved in.

The three-time premiership player (one at Port Adelaide) has played 25 matches at Aurora Stadium, averaging 21 touches a game.