HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell believes the honest conversations had in the days after the club slumped to 0-5 after the loss to Gold Coast in April were the catalyst behind the Hawks' resurgence from second bottom to on the cusp of a return to September.
Mitchell publicly questioned the players' professionalism inside People First Stadium after the 53-point hiding against the Suns, leading to senior players facing the music in the media and changes being implemented in the program.
Since then, Hawthorn has won 10 games, including seven of their past eight, to sit outside the top eight on percentage after claiming the most seismic win of Mitchell's first 63 games in charge on Saturday, dismantling Collingwood by 66 points in a game that felt like a final in July.
"That was the moment when the players started to push each other and themselves. From a coaches' point of view, I don't think we've done a lot differently since then, but the players have understood the importance of the detail," Mitchell said.
"I think the Sydney loss was a little bit similar. When we went away from things we've trained we knew we were going to be average at best. We talked after the game about who didn't get something right and got that feedback from a teammate and who celebrated something a teammate did, the detail we do, whether that's a spoil out of bounds or something else, we really appreciate the detail and the small things. The players have a great understanding of that."
Hawthorn hasn't played a final since 2018 and hasn't won a game in September since the 2015 Grand Final win over West Coast, but is firmly in the hunt heading into the final month of the home and away season, with Adelaide, Greater Western Sydney, Carlton, Richmond and North Melbourne to come.
Jack Ginnivan will always be a Collingwood premiership player, but the small forward produced an in-your-face reminder of what the Magpies lost when they paved the way for his exit last October.
The 21-year-old fired in the wet in his second game against his old side – first in Melbourne – finishing with a career-high 31 disposals, 11 score involvements and two goals in his first game back from a fractured fibula.
"'Ginni' is one of those players that the crowd love, the media wants to talk about and in the preparation we didn't make much of it [facing his old side]. We know he's important for what he does for us as a side – we've missed him the last couple of weeks – to get him back we knew that would bring a lot of energy," Mitchell said.
"The sense of theatre of the game was fantastic. All of the 72,000 that came would have loved the theatre of the game today. I was rapt for him. He is only 21 years old. If you think about how long it feels he's been around, how many times he's been on the back page or there has been a story about him, he seems he is much older, but he is 21. He is still maturing, still growing into his footy, still getting used to his teammates. He is going to continue to improve, but it has all come off the back of an enormous workrate and a desire to prove that he can be a fantastic and well-rounded player and not a flash in the pan."
Nick Watson also produced a standout performance, kicking 3.0 and passing off another to show the progress the 2023 pick No.5 is making in front of goal, after starting his AFL career with 7.19 and seven shots without scoring.
"Everyone has always been interested in the 'Wizard'. It is just one of those personalities. He is close to the smallest players in the League, he has been an early draft pick and been one of those players everyone has been interested in," Mitchell said.
"He has had a target on his back for his whole career, really, and that includes school footy. He is probably more adept at handling pressure than most. Full credit to him, he is not perfect and he is going to continue to grow, but I'm rapt with the work ethic that he is putting in to improve his game."
