‘Let it all out… where are we at?’ Mitchell’s frank message to players after Hawks ‘reality check’

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says his side is currently “miles off it” after Friday night’s ugly loss to Collingwood has its season teetering.

The Hawks were put to the sword by the Magpies to the tune of 51 points at the MCG as Mitchell’s side suffered its third-straight defeat – including a 33-point loss to Brisbane last week — to fall to 7-5.

A dejected Mitchell said post-match his main message to his players was to instead ask them where they thought things went wrong.

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“It was more asking them actually. Had a bit of a discussion around: ‘Let it all out, what’s gone on? Where are you at? Where are we at? What do you think?’,” Mitchell told reporters on Friday night.

“I think it was pretty clear to everyone here and those watching at home that we’re, at this point, miles off it.

“But that Collingwood team was super sharp. We played Brisbane last week and they were very good as well, but that was another level today.

“That’s what we need to aspire to, and above, to beat them when it matters. We’ve got plenty of work to do.

“Where do I think (the players are) at? We just got beaten by 10 goals, so that’s where they’re at.”

Hawthorn’s season has hit a hurdle amid a tough stretch including a showdown with Western Bulldogs next Thursday night followed by Adelaide ahead of the club’s mid-season bye.

Mitchell conceded his side, which started the season 4-0 but has since gone 3-5, had plenty of work to do to compete with the best sides.

“You’re always assessing where you’re at. What we’ve known is we’re not the best in it, and that’s what we want to be,” the Hawks coach said.

“We know when the players work hard and we work hard as an organisation to improve, that’s given us a benchmark of what we’re aiming to get towards.

“We knew we were not at the top and have some work to do to get there. But we know we will improve if we put the work in.

“But that was a pretty big reality check to what the best look like at this stage of the season. It’s a long season, we’re 7-5, but we’ve lost three in a row now.

“We’ve got a six-day break ahead of the Dogs next Thursday. That’s a chance to see where we’re at again. We’re going to need to play better, we’re not going to beat too many teams playing the way we did tonight.”

It came on a night the Hawks lost the tackle count to Collingwood by a whopping 44 (82-38) after Hawthorn was out-tackled by Brisbane by 23 (59-36) last week in an area Mitchell flagged as a concern.

The -44 tackle difference against the Pies marked the seventh-worst return on record, while five Hawks players didn’t lay a single tackle and further seven laid one.

Mitchell said it was also on the Hawks coaches to put the players in better positions to tackle after the club put “a bit of a focus” on applying more heat at the contest during the week.

“Sometimes you look at the tackle count and think it’s player effort. But it’s not just that, it’s the way we set the game up as a coaching staff, we’re in it together with them,” he added.

“We need to put ourselves in positions to tackle. We won clearances, first possession and contested possession. When you win those things, invariably you usually get outtackled by a couple. But we only laid 38 tackles for the game, so we’ve got some work to do in enabling positions where we can get our players in positions to tackle more often.

“Because you’re not going to beat a side like that if you can only lay 38 tackles.”

Mitchell also defended the decision to start Finn Maginness as sub, despite the midfielder previously being effectively used in a tagging role on Nick Daicos, who had 32 disposals and 10 score involvements including a goal on Friday night.

“You really want to back your own system in. We could’ve tagged him, but that would’ve given up something else,” Mitchell said.

“Nick is as good a player as there is in the game — and I’ll probably be proven wrong on every TV show – but I didn’t think his influence on the game (was the difference).

“If we were tagging anyone tonight it probably would’ve been Sidebottom. I think quite early in the game he was real trouble for us.

“Nick’s a good player and he had an influence, but I wouldn’t have said he was all that influential. I thought we were able to limit some of his good ball use he normally has. We probably got a bit lucky, his kicking might’ve been a touch off tonight.

“Finn is an important player for us and trying to bet the mix of what we’re trying to do right is a challenge every week.”