Check out the key points from Hawthorn Coach Sam Mitchell's press conference following his side’s loss to Fremantle on Saturday.

On the game

"Today was disappointing, we didn't have the energy and the spark.

"We knew that against Freo it was going to be a grind of a game and that we would have to work really hard for a long time to break them down.

"We just couldn't do it today, we just couldn't find a way, and we could never bridge that four-goal gap.

"We know we've got a lot of development to do, but there was a lot of positives to see and parts of the game we were really pleased with."

On the season

"One of the things we really need to work on is clarity of messaging and consistency of performance - the longer we play together the more consistent we will become.

"Our best patches of footy were pretty good, but were a long way apart, particularly in the early part of the year.

"I think a lot of the improvement in the second half of the year came from finding something that worked for us. 

"We're making progress, but it's not as quick as some people think, we finished 16th. We have to remember we've got an enormous amount of work to do to compete against the sides that are going to playing the next five weeks in finals."

Looking ahead

"We've got another year of significant development to do before we're competing with the best sides on a regular basis.

"Can everyone within our four walls see future finals for us? The answer to that is a clear yes. Part of our job is to build towards that.

"We can skip a few steps and try to get there straight away, but we're not interested in just ducking into the finals... there are teams that are finishing in the top four and getting criticised... that's what we're heading towards so that's the standard we have to hold ourselves to."

Hear more from Mitchell's press conference below.