Complex sentence: After the 2008 premiership, opposition teams worked hard at picking the "Clarkson cluster" apart, masked by injuries to key players the Hawks slipped down the ladder to finished ninth in 2009.
Split into simpler sentences: After the 2008 premiership, opposition teams worked hard at picking the "Clarkson cluster" apart. Dogged by injuries to key players, the Hawks slipped down the ladder to finish ninth in 2009.