THE Western Bulldogs must quickly regroup and find that elusive commodity, form, or risk being regarded as the under-achievers of 2008, Bulldog midfielder Matthew Boyd said yesterday after Friday night's crushing 51-point qualifying-final loss to Hawthorn.

"You wish you knew the secret answer to it all, but it's all probably above the shoulders, I'd say," Boyd said.

"I don't think we handled the situation too well to be honest. A lot of guys had the fumbles, myself included.

"We just have to do what we did earlier in the year and find that form somehow through work rate or intensity. It has just got to be through a big effort."

The loss was a devastating result for the Bulldogs, who have now lost six of their past eight games and will meet the winner of the Sydney-North Melbourne match.

The loss also means injured Bulldogs Robert Murphy (knee) and Lindsay Gilbee (calf) have only the week to recover, though Boyd said both had moved well at the club's recovery session yesterday morning and were unlikely to miss next weekend's semi-final.

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade was frustrated by the performance, saying yesterday that his team appeared "overawed by the experience".

"There's got to be some accountability," Eade said. "That's not what we want to stand for. It's not what we're about as a footy club."

Boyd said that while Eade had been upset after the game, the often-fiery coach had not blasted the players.

"He didn't give us a spray, it doesn't really serve too much of a purpose," Boyd said. "I mean we feel as well. We're not robots and it (the loss) hurts us just as much as it hurts everyone else, the supporters and the club."

Much of yesterday's wash-up from the game surrounded Hawk forward Lance Franklin's stellar performance in booting eight goals in a best-on-field display.

However, speaking at the Hawks recovery session yesterday morning at the Brighton Baths, vice-captain Luke Hodge said Franklin was just one member of a dominant Hawthorn forward line.

"Buddy is just one of six forwards. If you look at what Roughy (Jarryd Roughead) did last night, he took 10 grabs and was superb from the first bounce.

"And Cyril Rioli does just as much as Frankie (Franklin) does.

"I think the best part of Frankie's game last night was the few times he did chase and he did tackle, which we expect from all our forwards."

Hodge's performance across the back line also won rave reviews. Hodge constantly gathered the ball in the Bulldogs' forward line and set up damaging Hawthorn attacks with penetrating kicks.

He said yesterday he was more than happy to continue in the role as long as Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson wanted him there.

The Hawks have some injury concerns, but have the benefit of the week off to allow players to recover.

Key defender Trent Croad injured a foot in the first half and did not return to the field after half-time.

Other injured Hawks — Rick Ladson (shoulder), Cameron Stokes (leg), Grant Birchall (hip) and Stephen Gilham, who was ruled out of Friday night's game because of a virus — should all be available for selection.