MICHAEL Voss played it, so did Glenn Archer. But Robert Harvey doesn't and James Hird didn't. I see it from Jonathan Brown but it doesn't come naturally to Chris Judd. We saw Ryan Crowley execute it against Gary Ablett weeks ago. Some clubs value it and others don't even talk about it. Hawthorn lives by it.

It is unsociable football.

It is an attitude within a game of football that says, "I respect you as a competitor but nothing is coming easy today. I'm going to make this as uncomfortable for you as I can."

Watch a tagger ply his trade against a ball winner, have every player in the side take up that mindset and you will have the epitome of an unsociable team.

You wouldn't expect to see Luke Hodge and Brady Rawlings randomly bumping, harassing and intimidating each other along Chapel Street on a Sunday afternoon and, of course, you don't want to see them being sharing and caring while your team is going about it's business.

If that little old lady you might help over the road was wearing an opposition jumper on the MCG, you tackle her — to hurt!

For mine, the Brisbane Lions team throughout their premiership dominance were masters at the unsociable style. They had players on every line that found it natural to poke and prod, to niggle and harass and they put their opposition to the sword from the first siren to the last and did it week after week.

The Scott brothers made a career out of it. They tackled to hurt and when they got up they'd push you down. They would never let an opponent past without laying skin on them and if you wanted to settle in a spot for a five-second rest they wouldn't allow it. You had to earn every touch and when you woke the next day, you were under no illusions about the physical test you'd endured.

They played, as did most of the Lions, like you were threatening to take something from them. It was life and death, every inch was fought for, every second could be that break in the game.

At times this aggressive intent could, in some eyes, go beyond the spirit of the game as we saw in the Nick Riewoldt incident at the Gabba in 2005 when Chris Scott and Mal Michael targeted the clearly injured Saint. The message to Riewoldt was, "we know you're hurt but we're not going to take it easy on you; if you're out here you are fair game".

Harsh, yes, but in the realms of professional sport acceptable. Just because it was obvious to the public doesn't make it wrong. Every week players take advantage of their opponents' weaknesses. It's not a friendly, pleasant environment.

The team that best embodies this focus in today's football is Hawthorn. They've made it a focus, part of their playing culture and they believe it is the only way to play the game. So do I.

Take notice of how often a Hawthorn player gets in a scuffle. Watch them around stoppages. See the desperation they have in and around the contest and how they all do it. They are undefeated and they are playing their unsociable brand of football to a man. They are on a mission.

Like the Lions, they have their fair share of physical players — Campbell Brown, Michael Osborne and Hodge are some of the best exponents of this uncompromising style of play.

But it doesn't come naturally to everyone. Shane Crawford is a player who doesn't instinctively play to hurt so he sometimes crosses the line in his efforts to play by the team edict and impose himself physically. This is why we've seen him sitting in the stands so often recently after yet another Tuesday night visit to AFL House.

The combative nature of contact sport demands an element of this mindset for success. It is different to other sports. In athletics, competitors pit their best against their opponents' best without disruption. It is the absolute challenge, where time and distance are the measure.

In football, competitors preventing the opposition's best is as important as producing your own. It's a relative measure and week by week the ground rules shift and change but defence and disruption is in many ways more valuable than offence and creativity.

Players expect the game to be played hard and expect to be tested physically, mentally and emotionally. It's a harsh existence but they are the realities of the combative sport we play. It's not kill or be killed but it is dominate or be dominated.

At the beginning of a match players push and shove and ruffle feathers. This is all for show and an attempt to set a physical standard for the day. But the consistency of this attitude is what makes a competitor all he can be.

To take any and every opportunity to impose physicality and dominance, to disrupt and destroy, to slow down and handicap is the aim. The best teams find it crucial to success.

The Bulldogs have added some bite to their bark and the unsociable element has them enjoying their win-loss record this season. Today against the Hawks, keep an eye on Mitch Hahn, Will Minson and Tim Callan who has added some hardness on the half back line. Brace yourself for a good physical match between to of the most unsociable teams in the competition.