AFL 2025: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell wants his side to ‘throw our own punches’

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says he won’t “over resource” shutting Brisbane’s midfield down.

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says his side must throw its own punches to counter the star-studded Brisbane Lions on Saturday.

The fourth-placed Hawks – coming off a loss to Gold Coast in Darwin – face their biggest challenge of the season with the reigning premier at the MCG.

The Lions, also coming off a loss, have built their strong start to the season through an extensive stock of stars.

Mitchell is wary of the Lions’ depth but says his side must “create some problems for them” going the other way.

“Getting the ball into your front half against a side like Brisbane is vital, we know we need to work on the exact strategy and structure we have,” he said.

Sam Mitchell wants Hawthorn to ‘thrown our own punches’. Picture: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“They’ve got so many talented players, whether we go after one or two of them individually or whether we look at a collective system to try and create some clearance dominance.

“The challenge of the Brisbane midfield is not too dissimilar to that of the Gold Coast midfield, I think when you look at these teams at the top of the ladder, they’ve got stars on every line.

“We can’t afford to over resource the midfield too much because it comes at the expense of something else.

“What we need to do is throw our own punches and make sure we’re playing in an assertive and offensive way to create some problems for them.”

The job Melbourne forward Jake Melksham did on Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews played a strong hand in the Demons’ upset win last week.

But Mitchell gave little away as to whether he will pose a similar task to veteran goalkicker Jack Gunston.

Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews was outpointed by Jake Melksham. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

“I don’t look at that too much specifically, I leave that with the line coaches to figure out exactly who and how to play (Andrews),” he said.

“Brisbane are clearly a potent side with a lot of dangerous players, if we focus too much on that we will go away from our own game, I don’t think that helps us either.

“There’s a little bit of meet fire with fire and there’s a little bit of making sure we can put out a couple of things for them.”