Sam Mitchell unpacks Hawthorn’s controversial prelim loss

There was plenty to unpack after Hawthorn’s Preliminary Final loss to Brisbane on Saturday night.

Talking points galore surrounded what can only be described as the most remarkable prelim ever played.

Hawks coach Sam Mitchell reacted to the controversial defeat on Monday morning after taking time to assess how it all finished up.

Mitchell answered questions from Kane Cornes and David King on Fireball.

How are you feeling?

“Yeah, I’m starting to come out of the cave a bit and reflect a bit more on the holistic part of the season. Not all the way there, but moving forward, starting to at least,” Mitchell said.

You grabbed your players on field straight after the game for a lengthy address. What did you say?

“Just that I was proud of them and it looked like there was a fair bit happening. So let's act with humility and thank our fans who had all turned out.

“So you would have seen after that we walked off and gave a clap to some of the people who were still there. Obviously some of the things that we've found out since, there was a very small portion of those fans that didn't act appropriately, which has sort of soured what was probably one of the greatest games of all time.

“So disappointing that a few fans decided to throw things and not act appropriately. So that was a bit disappointing, but talking to the players was really about making sure we hold our heads high.

“Two Preliminary Final losses in a row, this is not the end of our journey. We need to be back and we need to be better than we are right now again.”

Was that in response to what you'd seen with Tom Barrass and James Sicily?

“No, I must admit I didn't see that at all or heard about that at all until I just saw the bottle. On the ground there was a lot of debris.

“So I hadn't seen anything, I assumed that was all happening while we were coming back down from the coaches box. So no, I wasn't across that and I read a story about a young eight-year-old who had nachos thrown at them at the footy.

“I think one of the great things I'll be on record about this regularly saying how good is Aussie rules footy that you can just take anyone, you can sit anywhere, you can feel safe all the time. And I think we lost that for a moment after the game. I don't think that's ever what anyone wants.

“So making sure that we behave appropriately, which goes to our players as well. And going towards umpires after games, I don't think is appropriate behavioir either.”

Have you had a chat to those two senior players in Sicily and Barrass about their behaviour?

“Yeah, we caught up yesterday. Box Hill had a great win in their Grand Final yesterday. So we all sat and watched that and certainly caught up with those boys and chatted through it.

“So they'll work through the fines and all the things that they have to do at their end. But I think they knew that the emotions got well and truly the better of them at that moment.”

Should it be a suspension, Mitch? These are tense moments at AFL level, at all levels, that we've just got to maintain some respect for the umpiring fraternity as they exit the field. Is it a suspension rather than a fine going forward?

“I’m not going to get into that. I agree with your second point. I think the umpires have got an enormously difficult job and I go and watch my kids play. I think that the way people treat umpires is very, very important all the way through from junior footy, junior sports all the way into the AFL.

“We have to set a very high bar for what we accept in that area. So I won't get into what the ramifications should be. But I wouldn't call it a pattern of behaviour.

“So I think the thing that has to happen is we need to make sure our umpires are respected and treated that way.”

On the Jarman Impey decision at the death

“I look back now at the game, and with a little bit of time, and I think about all the errors that we made. The last one with Jarman Impey, clearly that's a free kick.

“I looked at the three players standing around who in any other circumstance would have done something but they were stunned mullets at the moment that matters most.

“They're the things that we'll be able to work on in our off-season and making sure that we can continue to improve because those individual moments, if they come down to them there's always going to be some luck involved.”

It was a remarkable game. How difficult is it for you as a coach to clamp the opposition when they're scoring so heavily from centre bounce? I think they kicked eight goals from centre bounce on the night. It was a rare event.

“Yeah, it was and if you think of centre bounce goals in a certain way where they come out the front. Will Ashcroft takes two bounces and kicks it to Kai Lohmann, he kicks a goal, but I think four of them were involved with free kicks. Cam Rayner gets a free kick and he kicks some sort of floater and it lands in Charlie Cameron's lap and it's just like the isolation in those plays you can't avoid and you've got your best player on their best player and if you don't get it done then it's a goal.

“So it was a frustrating part of the game, the centre-bounce scores, particularly in the third quarter, when they got their big run-on and they got out to quite a lead.

“But I do reflect holistically on the game and I think about the belief that we had. We scored 122 points and still lost.

“‘Fages’ (Chris Fagan) is a phenomenal coach, he's done a fantastic good job with that organisation. They've been there so many times before that, despite not being quite good enough this year, I was really proud of our players and what we were able to do to get back into it from that point, and to get a lead late in the game, and the crowd was something to behold.

“Anyone that was there I'm sure is one that they'll never forget.”

You just couldn't get Will Day going. What was the issue there with him and what was going through your mind with how you used him?

“Yeah, we just let him go. I think Josh Dunkley went mostly to him and then at different stages went to Jai Newcombe when Will wasn't around.

“We know how good Dunkley is as a player and so we tried to get something out of Will, pushing him forward, but he started to cramp up and wasn't moving too well. Unfortunately he probably didn't have quite the preparation that most of the other guys did so he wasn't able to be at his absolute best.

“But he only played less than half the season this year so expect him to get a full pre-season under his belt and be able to do some training, and get ready for next year now. It feels hard to say when we're already looking towards next year, but that's where it falls for us. We're not quite ready for the last Saturday in September, unfortunately.”

Give us your assessment of the year. What was missing? Did you feel like this was an opportunity absolutely lost given the way you played on Saturday night or is this still a building year for you?

“Last year we finished eighth at the end of the home and away season, this year we finished fourth. There's such small margins. We have a single point in the Easter Monday game which made such a huge difference in a season like this.

“So those small margins, we know we have to keep fighting towards and we certainly look at this season as progress. Every season you're trying to take a chunk off what you're trying to achieve and we took a very, very small step forward but unfortunately you don't get to start from where you finish.

“We’ll go back to the same as every other team for the start of next season and know that we've got all this work in front of us. But I do look across the whole season with a fair bit of pride about how we went about it. You know, obviously we lost 'Daysy' before the season started for the majority of the year. We lost 'Nashy' (Conor Nash) who is pretty important.

“But our injury list was quite short across the year. So then I'm sort of torn between feeling optimism and feeling like I’m proud of our whole organisation for how healthy we were. I look at the Box Hill team winning the premiership yesterday and I think about the depth of the squad and I'm really positive about that.

“So there's lots of things to be optimistic about and overall the success of the season was there. There was plenty of successes across this season but it's still quite difficult to handle the last failure because that's the only one you remember and that you take forward with you.”

Are you more confident you'll land Zach Merrett than you were this time last year?

“Hard to say. I probably don't want to get too much into individual players. I think most years you're trying to improve your list through free agency and a situation we’re in, I think those teams who are somewhere near the top echelon of the ladder are trying to improve their list with free agency and the draft as well.

“So we'll try to improve our list through trades and free agency. And if we can do that, then I think that obviously is going to give us more chances for next year because every team is going to improve.

“So not sure exactly on individual players and how they'll play out. So we'll let that one go for a few more weeks.”

Plans for yourself, Mitch. What do you do in the off-season to chase that little bit of personal improvement?

“I’ll have a bit of a rest I think, first. I've gone pretty hard the last couple of years with travel and I think probably your families give up a lot for you to do this job. It's not a job you do on your own and you're surrounded by people that are on the journey with you.

“I actually thought I felt okay after the game and I got into the rooms and one of my daughters had big tears in her eyes and I just completely broke down. I couldn't handle it, seeing my daughter feel like that.

“So I think spending some quality time with the family over the next couple of months is number one priority for me. I'm not going to do any big overseas trips or anything this year.

“As a football club and an organisation, we are big on spending time with our families and our loved ones, so I have to set a good example in that one over the next couple of months.”

Your coaching department pretty set and rock solid, not too many changes there?

“Yeah, I think so. We might do some restructuring. We had a bit of a chat about it yesterday.

“We've got potentially some changes of roles, but the personnel will stay, unless obviously anyone gets a head coaching role. So that could make some change but at this point where we're pretty set.”

Can you allow yourself to watch this Saturday or will you avoid the Grand Final?

“Oh, I'm undecided. If it was today, I don't think I could bring myself to get there, but there's a couple more days of recovery and emotional regulation that'll have to happen after the next couple of days.

“They're two great sides. We played them both in the finals and they're both very, very good. So I think it'll be a great Grand Final.

“To all the Hawks fans, thank you for your support across the year. As an organisation, we're certainly not looking for sympathy or interested in any excuses.

“First and foremost we'll be looking in the mirror to make sure that we can improve ourselves and just get a bit further next year.”

Listen to the full chat with Mitchell below: