Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson wants his players to maintain a hard edge to their game when they take on GWS on Saturday.
The Hawks face the Giants at Spotless Stadium without AFL veterans Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis as they serve suspensions handed out for undisciplined acts in last week's win over North Melbourne.
But Clarkson believes it's necessary for his players to continue to push the boundaries in order to be effective.
"All the best sides in the competition in the history of the game have played that way, so we don't apologise for playing hard and ruthless footy, but we just want to do it within the rules," Clarkson said on Friday.
"There were a couple of instances last week where we didn't and we paid the penalty for that.
"These are fine line incidents. When you're playing really tough, ruthless footy in an elite competition in the land, in a game that's barbaric in a sense, it is a tough environment.
"Players will make errors of judgement from time to time - two of our more senior guys did last week and they've been dealt with by the judiciary, which is fair and reasonable.
"We accept that and move on."
Paul Puopolo and Jed Anderson replaced Hodge and Lewis, who will serve three and two-match bans respectively.
The Giants made three unforced changes to the side that was humbled by West Coast last week, with Matt Buntine, Adam Kennedy and Zac Williams replacing Nathan Wilson, Josh Kelly and Aidan Corr.
Leon Cameron's side was dismantled by the Eagles to the tune of 87 points, but Clarkson said the Hawks faced a stern challenge against a team that has an identical 3-2 win-loss record.
"For all sides, interstate travel is a really big challenge and that's what we've got to confront this week," he said.
"We're playing on GWS' home deck, we've never played there before, so that will give them a slight advantage because they know their ground particularly well.
"They've been really impressive in their games to date - albeit they had a bit of a hiccup last week.
"They've got a very talented side and if they can get out and run and use their skills they will hurt any side in the competition. "We're just as prone to that as any other side."
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