Coach Sam Mitchell says an inability to make the most of several early opportunities was detrimental to his young side’s 59-point loss to Essendon on Sunday.
Hawthorn led by three points midway through the second quarter, but an Essendon avalanche from that point on saw nine unanswered goals kicked, leaving the Hawks unable to find a way back.
Mitchell said his side struggled to control the momentum of Essendon’s strong transitions from its back half.
“They jumped us a little bit and I thought we handled it well for a quarter, but it was really disappointing that we weren’t able to make the most of our opportunities in that first part of the game,” Mitchell said.
“It then got worse from there, so I’m really disappointed with the second half in particular obviously.
“We’re all disappointed with the way it panned out and how quickly the scoreboard got out of hand, we just couldn’t find a way going forward.
“Our defence held up not too bad at different stages – but once it fell apart – it fell apart badly, and I think that was the most disappointing things to come out of the game."
The second-year coach said Sunday’s performance was a “long way” from what his group hoped and expected to produce.
“I look at our performances over the summer… I look at how we’ve trained, how we’ve gone about it and how our attitude has been,” Mitchell said.
“And then I look at the performance today and it is certainly not what we expected as a group.
“I think we would’ve expected to have been much better for much longer, we showed some very small patches of some decent football, but a long way from what we think we’re capable of as a side.
“We’re not going to get it right every week, but I expect we’re going to be better than that.”
Despite the result, there were some exciting plays from the Hawks with Chad Wingard and Changkuoth Jiath both kicking highlight goals in the first half.
Meanwhile young guns Will Day (22 disposals), Josh Ward (24 disposals) and Cam Mackenzie (17 disposals), alongside returnee James Worpel (29 disposals) all produced strong performances leading a very inexperienced and new-look midfield.
After playing most of the 2022 season in a tagging role, Finn Maginness continued his fine form, shutting down Zach Merrett for most of the opening half before Mitchell eased the tag later in the game.
“I think the rucks (Ned Reeves and Lloyd Meek) held up pretty well and their hit-outs were strong, but unfortunately we didn’t make the most of that dominance in the ruck,” Mitchell added.
“I thought Frenchie (Mackenzie) had a first game where he stood up and did a few pretty special things, I think Jai Newcombe continued on and James Worpel was strong through there.
“Finn Maginness also did a pretty good job on Merrett – I think he had only 7 or 8 touches at half time.”
Watch Mitchell’s full post-game press conference below.
