AFL finals: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell on the ‘punch’ to the face his side needed
Hawthorn was punched in the face and forced into some “mirror looking”.
The Hawks were on the end of a Friday-night massacre at the Gabba in round 22, copping an 11-goal drubbing to a Brisbane side they’ll meet in this week’s preliminary final.
Mitchell vowed that night his side wouldn’t get exposed like that again and revisited those words when speaking to the media on Thursday.
The way he sees it, the preliminary final offers the Hawks a shot at the premiership and a chance to answer their own doubts.
“That was a good wake-up call for us, we were nowhere near good enough,” Mitchell said.
“I think we finished that game with some mirror looking, saying ‘What do we need to do as a collective, what do we need to do individually to make sure we’re ready to compete against this level of intensity they brought on that night?’
“I think I said after the game that I doubt if we played them again if it will be the same and we’ll see if that was true now.”
Mitchell specifically said there were “parts” of that loss he didn’t like and was most displeased with how the platers appeared in a game that had a “finals feel”.
The Hawks haven’t lost since that night after going into battle with its own standards as a club.
“But certainly you’re forever fighting your own standards about what you’ll accept, what you stand for and who you want to be as an organisation.
“That was a wake-up call for what we had accepted up until that point and sometimes little things slip until they punch you in the face – that night, that’s exactly what happened.
“We’ve righted some wrongs since then and whether we’re up to the standard of what we think this team will bring, we think we are if we produce our best.”
Brisbane is chasing what only it and Hawthorn have accomplished since the 1960s – winning three consecutive premierships.
Mitchell played for the all-conquering Hawks, who lifted the premiership cup in 2013, ‘14 and ’15 under then-assistant-turned-Lions mentor Chris Fagan.
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