Pride, pain and everything in between. Sam Mitchell lived the full gamut of emotions in the aftermath of Friday night’s three-point semi-final loss to Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. 

The third-year Hawthorn coach was raw when he addressed his players and then the media less than 30 minutes after the Hawks’ phenomenal recovery from a 0-5 start to 2024 ended on the second weekend of September.

Hawthorn trailed at every break and were as much as 22 points down midway through the second quarter, before rallying late to almost pinch a famous victory, but hit the post with two shots deep into time-on.

“The pain I felt and the pain I saw on their faces, we are all as one; it is not just the players, it’s the staff. I looked at all the faces, all the red eyes and it was pain and disappointment, frustration, regret, pride, all staring straight back at me. I’m sure it’s all over my face right now,” Mitchell said.

“It is a brutal game. We came from a long way back at the start of the year. We gave ourselves chances, but didn’t quite take them. I take enormous pride in the playing group. We’ve had some enormous challenges in not just this season, but the last few years. When our fans go to work on Monday, they can be very proud of our boys.”

Mitchell said the heartache of a knockout final loss on the road would drive this group across the summer and inspire the young group at Waverley Park to progress deeper this time next year.

“Pain is a great motivator,” Mitchell said.

“When you think about each training session, doing extra reps, there is a little bit of pain that burns into you. We’re not good enough to feel like we can be complacent. We’re going to have to make progress; it’s not a natural linear progression; I’ve said all year that we’re far from a finished product.”

Watch Sam Mitchell's full post-match press conference.