Hear from Hawthorn Senior Coach Sam Mitchell following his side's first win of the 2024 season against North Melbourne.

On the 45-point win:

"I thought the players were really strong, they were great. I enjoyed watching the game. Even some of the goals we gave up were the right type. We genuinely tried to put the opposition under pressure, our players response (from last week's loss) was fantastic. Collectively, the performance was of such a higher standard. I thought the players had a real desperation about them."

On the club's ongoing support from members: 

"We've got 80,000 members and they continue to turn up to games. They come to Marvel Stadium on a Sunday afternoon to support us. They come to Tassie, Queensland, the MCG. They turn up every time, never have we ever been disappointed in the crowd. First and foremost, I'm talking to the 80,000 Hawks members, they deserve to see the pain that we're in like with how we performed last week, but by the same token they deserve to see the joy that we have from a game like today. They should be really proud of the players, they left it all out there."

On Jack Gunston's impact:

"Even though he hasn't been playing I've loved what he's been doing. He has been a fantastic leader around the group. He brings people along and shows them things, he's coaching. We felt like he would do a better job of it on the field this week, which he did. He had some good moments himself, but was also able to set people up. For those that came along to watch the game live, they would've seen that he was a coach out there. When you have players driving a standard the way that he did, it makes others around him stand up a little bit taller."

On the side's defensive efforts:

"We thought Jai Serong had been really consistent at VFL level, he performed at a good level consistently for a long period of time. He earned his spot (in the seniors). I thought the backline was a little bit more defensively-minded today. That enabled Karl Amon to push up the ground. I think Sam Frost played with a desperation, there was a contest right in front of the coaches box with a minute to go where he was desperate for physical contact. I think all of our defenders performed pretty well."

Watch the full post-game press conference below.