Sporting a snazzy silver jacket - sleeves pulled up, obviously - in a video co-starring white-suited trio Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and a saxophone-playing Danny DeVito, Ocean immortalised in song the age-old cliche about exactly when the tough get going.

Well, in terms of supporting AFL, that’s right about now because the going is getting pretty tough for our resident team.

Ever since May 6, 2001, when Hawthorn began playing regular fixtures at the venue formerly known as York Park, the crowd figures have been closely monitored to determine the arrangement’s success or failure.

Some 17,460 turned up to watch the defeat of Adelaide that day and attendances remained thereabouts as the Hawks increased their commitment from one to two, then three and eventually four annual fixtures.

For four seasons they shared the love nest with St Kilda, a situation that proved about as blissful and harmonious as sharing an apartment with two partners.

The end of that harebrained idea in 2007 coincided with an upturn in Hawthorn’s fortunes. With Tasmanian investment flowing through their accounts, the club embarked on an appropriately-coloured golden era that yielded four premierships and another grand final in eight seasons.

Crowds swelled beyond the 20,000 mark and Tasmanian membership surpassed 9000.

As the flags piled up so did the Launceston wins, the era of three straight premiership-winning campaigns coinciding with a staggering run of 19 consecutive wins and 26 out of the last 27.

Not since Adam Goodes’ 300th match in Sydney’s premiership season of 2012 have Alastair Clarkson’s men tasted defeat in Launceston.

However, as Douglas and Turner found out in The Jewel of the Nile, the toughest test of a relationship is when things are not going so well and for Hawthorn that is right about now.

Whether it’s the trades of champions Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis or the increasing age of the remainder of their premiership core is not clear, but the Hawks have hit a wall of Donald Trump proportions.

Four straight losses - including consecutive 86-point beltings which provided traditional whipping boys Gold Coast Suns with their biggest ever win and traditional rival Geelong with its highest-scoring quarter - have tested the resolve of players and fans alike.

Finding themselves in the most unfamiliar spot of last place facing two of their recent grand final victims back at the MCG, the Hawks bounced back from the Geelong debacle by virtually cloning the 2015 season decider with a 51-point defeat of West Coast on Sunday.

Needing their Tasmanian fortress more than ever, the Hawks fly south to face their former co-tenants at 1.45pm on Saturday.

Gone are the days of turning up to see Lance Franklin boot 13 goals as the team romps to another flag. This is a team in transition, and seemingly in trouble.

With the reliable political football of Tasmania’s own AFL team also bouncing around, never has the patience and loyalty of the forgotten state been so tested.

On the back of just 8758 turning up at Bellerive to watch North Melbourne host the premiership favourites Greater Western Sydney earlier this month, Saturday’s crowd figure will be closely scrutinised.

It remains a Melbourne derby between two teams with strong supporter bases in Tasmania and featuring such stars as No.1 draft picks like Luke Hodge and Nick Riewoldt, competition stalwarts like Shaun Burgoyne and  Leigh Montagna and Tasmanian products like Grant Birchall and Maverick Weller.

The corresponding fixture last season provided a memorable crowd experience.

The attendance was announced as 15,173, which surprised many inside what appeared to be a full ground, only for it to be subsequently revised up to 17,052 after assorted ticket scanning issues came to light.

In one of those loveable quirks of the fixture list, having faced Mitchell’s new team in their last match (albeit without their injured former skipper), the Hawks come up against Lewis and former manager Chris Fagan in their next two with the Demons awaiting in Round 7 before a swift return to UTas Stadium for the Lions’ visit on May 13.

It will be interesting to see whether their dominance and appeal in Launceston remains.

Or whether their Tasmanian relationship suffers the same sort of fate as Ocean’s signature tune which in 1999 had the indignity of being covered by boyband Boyzone.