An ecstatic Sam Mitchell felt Hawthorn’s barnstorming win over Adelaide exorcised some demons the Hawks had at Adelaide Oval, and declared his players won’t be satisfied simply to have made it to a preliminary final.
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The Hawks had lost six of their past seven games at their bogey venue, including last year’s season-ending semi-final heartbreaker to Port Adelaide, but set up a preliminary final clash against Geelong with an emphatic 34-point win against the minor premiers on Friday night.
“There was sort of a sense that we needed to win here in a big game because we’ve had some pain at this venue over the years,” Mitchell said.
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“We actually feel like we’ve played some good footy here, we’ve just struggled to win.
“So, we’ve exorcised a few demons … but getting to the prelim is not the aim, we have big things we’re hoping for in front of us.
“We get Geelong next, so it’s a pretty exciting time to be a Hawks fan, coach or player.
“I think everyone goes into work on Monday pretty optimistic and hopeful of what we can achieve, but the prelim weekend is not the aim.
“I’m really proud of what it has taken to get here, but … getting here is a stepping stone.
“I sat at this exact table last year heartbroken by the loss and the missed opportunity of what could’ve been.
“I think everyone had a level of pain and understanding that getting that far is really difficult.
“It’s enormously hard work and you’ve got to have a huge amount of respect for the teams that just back it up year after year.
“Geelong is one of those, and Adelaide finished on top and get to this weekend and couldn’t go a bit further, but they didn’t have the experience that our players have had now.”
Evergreen veteran Jack Gunston was enormous with five goals, but he had plenty of willing helpers further afield where Jai Newcombe, Josh Ward, and James Worpel dominated the Crows’ misfiring midfield.
Mitchell coy over Merrett meeting | 00:56
Gunston’s match-winning haul took his tally to 70 goals in his second season since returning from a year at Brisbane.
“I’d love to say that I had this plan and we knew he’d be this, but I’d be completely lying,” Mitchell said.
“We hoped that he would have some on-field impact, but we were really clear with him that the biggest influence we wanted him to have was we wanted him to support this young group.
“Our midfield is quite an eclectic group and you put all the names up without Gunners and you don’t know what you’re going to get sometimes two years ago.
“Now, the level of consistency from all those other players comes from the leadership of him and Luke Breust, who’s not performing on the field at the moment but he’s still having a massive influence.
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“What (Gunston) has done on the field has always been considered as a bonus and it’s certainly beyond what I thought he’d be capable of and I think what he thought he’d be capable of.
“But full credit to him and the medical team for getting him as fit and as good as he’s been.”
Mitchell made headlines for his meeting with Essendon skipper Zach Merrett in the lead-up to the game, but the coach was unapologetic.
“I’m not going to get into any details, but … I couldn’t have prepared any better for this game is what I would say,” he said.
“My job is to win as many games as I possibly can as the coach of this club and to improve this club in any way I see fit so I will continue to do that.”
Reacting to Mitchell’s comments regarding Merrett, Fox Footy’s Gerard Whately described him as “unrepentant”.
“He just does not care about those who think it’s the wrong thing to do,” Whately said.
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