Hawthorn Senior Coach Sam Mitchell is looking forward to the Hawks hosting their first game of the season at UTAS Stadium on Saturday night, highlighting the “competitive advantage” the club has enjoyed in Launceston over its 24-year partnership.
Since 2001, the Hawks have won 61 of a possible 82 matches at UTAS Stadium, equating to a 75 per cent win rate.
Saturday night’s game against GWS marks the club’s first night game in Launceston since 2018 and Mitchell knows how big of an occasion it will be.
Speaking to media on Thursday morning, the Hawks coach also touched on the Giants’ strengths, the process of filling Connor Macdonald’s spot and Karl Amon’s upcoming 50th game for the club.
We summarised the key points from Mitchell’s press conference below.
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On playing in Launceston
“It's definitely been a competitive advantage. I've been going to Tasmania for such a long time now, and I think it's really been important for the club off-field. I think from an on-field perspective, I always think probably, on average, across the 20-plus years we've been going, that we probably win one extra game a season because of the advantage there, and certainly. I hope they continue to embrace us some more. We go there, and I know there's some competition coming at some point, but hopefully, we can keep as many Hawks fans as we can.”
On the Giants
“The Giants are a fantastic side. They are really just so consistent in the way they go about it. They're really well-drilled and have obviously got a lot of talent in their team and that system they play is pretty effective. We played them twice last year, both very close games, one we won and one we lost. Even the year before, we played two pretty close games. We've got some challenges in front of us and we know that the Giants are one of the best sides.”
On replacing an injured Connor Macdonald
“We’ll have match committee and selection after training today. Obviously Box Hill had a really good win in their first game against Carlton, so that was great that they were able to have a win. Most of the coaches, if not all of the coaches were at that game and there's a lot of players in pretty good form. There's plenty of options for us about who comes in.”
On Karl Amon’s upcoming 50th game for Hawthorn
“I think the thing about Karl is that he’s been underrated from the outside for us. He's one of the guys that you lean on as a coach. He's one of the people you go out to at quarter-time and half-time, you talk to him and say, ‘What do you see?’ And he, in general, has a really good concept of what's happening in the game. He has some ideas about what can help us and he’s very selfless. He doesn't try to set himself up. He is just very team orientated. When you have leaders who are willing to play a role that helps the team and not necessarily themselves, and they see the game in the big picture, I think that helps with your coaching on game day.”
Watch Mitchell’s press conference below.
