Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell branded his side’s performance against the Gold Coast Suns “as bad as we’ve played in a long time” in a stunning spray.
The Hawks were comprehensively beaten by the Suns in a 53-point defeat at People First Stadium on the Gold Coast, with the hosts dominating the contest in the second half.
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Defeat to the Suns also condemned Hawthorn to its fifth loss in as many games to start the 2024 season, making it the club’s worst start since 1970.
Mitchell was at a loss to explain how his side dished up such an abject performance against the Gold Coast.
“We lost every aspect of that game,” Mitchell said in his post-match press conference.
“We lost the midfield battle, we couldn’t win a contest in front of the ball, we couldn’t stop them scoring at the other end.
“There was not a single aspect of that game that went in our favour.”
When quizzed on what his side lacked against the rampant Suns, Mitchell called out his side’s tendency to “invite” pressure onto themselves.
“I think if you’re not good in the contest and you’re not willing to consistently handle the pressure of the opposition, I think we’re probably the easiest team to put pressure on because we invite it ourselves,” Mitchell said.
Suns smash Hawks by huge scoreline | 00:36
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“They were really good in that area. And we didn’t handle the conditions, we weren’t consistent enough in our play.
“Last week was a step in the right direction but we didn’t win, so it’s not really the direction we’re after.”
Barring a sensational run of form, finals football this season now appears a distant dream for the Hawks after such a dismal start.
And Mitchell knows these performances simply cannot continue.
“We can’t play AFL football against aspiring finals teams and cough up the ball the way we did, lose contests the way we did,” Mitchell said.
“You’re just not going to be able to compete against anyone, the way we played tonight. And that’s a completely unacceptable way to play, and we should be past games like that.”
“They (Gold Coast) were really good, but that’s as bad as we’ve played in a long time.”
Hawthorn will have its best chance of snapping its five-game winless streak when they take on fellow strugglers North Melbourne next Sunday.
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