After going down to St Kilda by 53 points, Hawthorn AFLW Senior Coach Bec Goddard acknowledged that while the loss was disappointing, it was important for the side to keep progressing.
In front of home fans at Box Hill, it was Hawthorn's youth who showed glimpses of the future with Lucy Wales shouldering the ruck duties in the absence of Tamara Luke, Jasmine Fleming recording 10 disposals in the midfield and Charlotte Baskaran showing a never-say-die attitude with a solid fourth quarter performance.
"We had 11 debutants today that had their first AFLW game last week so we got to see some things," Goddard said.
"It's all part of the progress. We know that this year is going to be one of those seasons where we just have to lay our foundations and get that love and care for each other right."
Early in the game, the Hawks suffered two devastating injury blows with leadership group members Tamara Luke and Louise Stephenson suffering knee and ankle injuries, respectively.
Goddard said the young Hawks felt the void of these leaders on the field.
"It certainly hurt when two of our leaders and very experienced players go down early in the game, there's no doubt about that," she said.
"It's always hard to see the heart of the team go down with a serious knee injury like that."
Although the Saints spoilt Hawthorn's AFLW homecoming, Goddard thanked the brown and gold faithful for packing out Box Hill City Oval.
"It's a great community ground," she said.
"It looked like there was a pretty decent crowd there that were pretty excited when we went forward. It was great to have our fans at home for the first time."
