Despite going down to the Cats by a heartbreaking three points, Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson is proud of his young group for showing that they can match it with the premier sides of the competition.
"In three of the last four weeks we've played against Geelong, GWS and Adelaide," said Clarkson.
"We've had one win, one loss, one draw, and we've been in every game.
"So we're thereabouts. We've got a lot of injuries to our senior players, and we're giving young players some exposure to senior footy, and we're pleased with what we're seeing."
"Obviously we want to win games of footy as well, because it's good for their learning [to be a part of] a winning environment."
See Clarkson's full post match press conference above.
