Hawthorn Coach Sam Mitchell says the humid and hot conditions in which his side faced on Saturday night was no excuse for its disappointing performance. 

The Hawks went down by 67 points to the Gold Coast Suns at TIO Stadium, in what was the club’s first ever game in Darwin.

Speaking to the media post-match, Mitchell said his group lost some key aspects of the game.

“We didn’t handle the conditions well,” Mitchell said.

“We lost contested possessions significantly, lost clearances… and the tackle count as well.

“But the conditions is not an excuse from our point of view - that’s not to the standard we expect - you can’t loose games by 30 contested possessions.”

Mitchell said the Suns were able to think their way through the game better.

“I didn’t look at the boys at the end of the game and think we didn’t try,” Mitchell said.

“The boys worked hard and they were fatigued, tired and not feeling great.

“They (Gold Coast) were just certainly smarter around the ball.”

Hear more from Mitchell following our loss against the Suns.