Sam Mitchell says Hawthorn players weren’t caught up in grudge-match, just outplayed by Port

The Hawthorn showmen were nowhere to be seen at Adelaide Oval on Sunday night leaving the coach lamenting a wake-up call for his team.

Sam Mitchell, senior coach of Hawthorn at half time . Picture: Michael Klein

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell had been trying to tell people that his ladder-leading Hawks weren’t as good as what was being said about them and now he has proof after being taught “a bit of a lesson” by new arch-enemies Port Adelaide.

But Mitchell dismissed the “off-field stuff” as an issue for his men despite the pre-match being dominated by the fiery nature of last year’s semi-final clash.

Mitchell’s men were embarrassed in a first-half onslaught, down 71 points in the much-hyped Gather Round finale before they fought back in the second half to lose by 30.

The pre-match talk had been about the grudge match between Ken Hinkley’s side and Jack Ginnivan and the unbeaten Hawks following the acrimonious scenes after last year’s semi-final, won by the Power.

But Port’s first-half rampage changed that focus.

“Where did we go wrong?” Mitchell replied when asked what his chat to his players was about post-match.

“They obviously taught us a bit of a lesson.

The Hawks were out-muscled . (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“We’re a bit torn, obviously there was a bit riding on the game and we would have loved to have played much better than that.

“The first half of that game was unacceptable and not the way that we want to play, not the style of play that we try to produce.

“I’m trying to work out why.

“We’re 4-1 and not in a terrible position on the year, but it doesn’t feel like that right in this moment.”

There had been talk of a Hawthorn small forwards’ aeroplane goal celebration in reference to last season’s much-discussed semi-final win by the Power, but that never came to pass because neither Ginnivan nor Nick Watson kicked a goal.

“They talk all the time about the celebrations they might do,” Mitchell said.

“Obviously, anyone who has ever done a celebration like that they’ve prepped them at some point.

“You can look at that and think that we were talking about it, but it certainly wasn’t a collective discussion.

James Sicily of the Hawks looks dejected (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“It’s one of those moments where we need to learn from it.

“The off-field stuff, I didn’t think was the issue, I think it was what happened on the field, they really taught us a lesson in the early part of the game.

“There were plenty of issues on the field, and they’re the ones that we’re going to be trying to sort out.

“They instigated the game, they dictated, they taught us a lesson.

“But we’re better than we played, I think we’re better than that first half, and we’re going to have to prove that next week.”

Originally published as Sam Mitchell says Hawthorn players weren’t caught up in grudge-match, just outplayed by Port