The Hawks, undefeated after four rounds, will travel to the Gabba to take on the Lions who have won two and lost two to start 2008.
"They’re playing some fantastic footy," Black said.
"They’ve certainly got some talent in that group. They beat us at the MCG late last year quite comfortably so we’ll be underdogs going in and it’ll be a great challenge."
Black also acknowledged the media hype that will surround the key forwards of both sides, namely Hawthorn's Lance 'Buddy' Franklin and Lions co-captain Jonathan Brown.
“The media loves turning it around to Browny and Franklin … for us to be a good side we need more guys than Browny to kick goals,” he said.
One man who's certainly been firing for the Lions is Daniel Bradshaw, who has kicked 16 goals to Brown's 13 this season.
Bradshaw led the Lions' goalkicking in 2005 and 2006, booting 59 in the latter, before suffering a knee injury in 2007 that ended his season before it started.
The required knee reconstruction has taken little away from his game and two bags of five goals have punctuated his start to the season.
"It’s brilliant having him back," Black said. "He’s a real presence up in the forward line. You don’t hesitate when he leads and he’s got a great pair of hands on him.
"He’s a guy who can literally kick a bag of goals so it’s awesome having him back. It looks like he’s moving as well as he ever has so it’s a great treat having him back out there."
But Black believes the clash with the Hawks will be won in the midfield, with Hawthorn poised to welcome a full-strength unit after Shane Crawford, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis served suspensions and Sam Mitchell was a late withdrawal with a calf strain last week.
The Lions have their own with Black complemented by Nigel Lappin, Luke Power, Travis Johnstone, among others.
"They’ve got a lot of depth in that midfield group and they rotate their boys a lot through there so they’ve got a lot of run," Black said. "I’m sure that it will be the case on Saturday night."
