What is the ceiling for this ever-improving Hawthorn side?

Hawthorn might just be the hottest team in football right now.

Their only loss since Round 8 came by one point to Port Adelaide, a game they had well in hand before going under late.

The bye didn’t slow them down, with the young side smashing a full strength West Coast in Perth on Sunday afternoon.

Kane Cornes believes they have done a remarkable job rebuilding their list.

“What they’ve done this year to turn things around has been exceptional,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.

“They have a young group, they play an enticing style, they score in all the ways they should score to be a successful team, they’ve fixed their stoppage stuff which was a real issue.

“Their high half-forwards are crucial, they work as hard as team in the game, the structure Sam Mitchell plays is really impressive.

“I’m particularly impressed with the backline as well. They lose James Blanck in the pre-season with an ACL and you think, ‘gee, they’re short for key defenders’.

“What they have is young players who they selected with high draft picks like Connor MacDonald and Cam Mackenzie and I can easily see them playing 250 games and being multiple All-Australians.

“I think Nick Watson will get there. He had a typical game yesterday where he missed some opportunities, shushed the crowd – he’s going to be a star.

“Then you’ve got experienced recruits, like Karl Amon is a much better footballer at Hawthorn than he was at Port Adelaide.

“I think their recruiting has been excellent. They haven’t given up a whole lot to get guys in.”

Cornes, however, is less concerned about whether the club pushes on from here to make finals, given how young the group is in this cycle.

“Can they play finals this year? I’m not as worried about that. It’s been a significant step in the right direction,” he said.

“If I was a supporter right now, I would absolutely be very excited to be a Hawthorn fan.”

The Hawks gear up for a big clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday afternoon.