AFL 2025: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell watching Carlton’s ‘extraordinary’ midfield closely

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell is not taking Carlton lightly after its disastrous round 1 loss and is watching a strength of the Blues closely.

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says his side will have to be at its best to nullify Carlton’s “extraordinary” centre bounce potency on Thursday.

The Hawks were beaten at stoppages in their win over Essendon last Friday, prompting Mitchell to declare the way they won “not sustainable” post game.

Carlton still won the clearance battle despite its disastrous loss to Richmond, and Mitchell is factoring it into his preparation for this week.

“It’s certainly one of the areas we’re looking at, we lost clearance by nearly 20 last week,” he said.

“Everyone has been pretty hard on Carlton but they won the inside 50 count by 25, won time in forward half by more than any other team in the round and managed to lose the game.

“They got a lot right but they just weren’t able to finish it. We don’t think Carlton are a reflection of that single game, it’s still early in the season.”

Sam Mitchell is wary of Carlton’s midfield. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Carlton has a challenging trio of games ahead against Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and Collingwood before facing West Coast in Gather Round.

Mitchell doubled down on the Blues, saying the Hawks will need to get the game on their terms as early as possible.

“Form lines are still being formed but they’re a potent side with talent in every line. We need to be at our absolute best to be able to make sure we put in a good performance,” he said.

“Carlton’s potency, their centre bounce numbers are extraordinary, very, very good scoring team from centre bounce.

“Right from the start we’re know we’re going to have to be good to make sure that we can get the game on our terms as earliest as possible.”

Mitchell was hoping to be able to call on Changkuoth Jiath after losing defender Jack Scrimshaw to suspension.

Scrimshaw is appealing a three-match ban for high contact but will miss at least one game regardless (concussion) of whether the club is successful at the tribunal.

Jiath missed the Hawks’ first two matches with a hip complaint picked up late in the pre-season but has racked up game time in the VFL and could make his AFL return.

“Changkuoth has got through two games at Box Hill now,” Mitchell said.

“He obviously had a bit of an interruption just late in the pre-season after a really good block before that, so he’s one of the options for selection.

“We’ll finish off selection after training today (Tuesday) and he’s one of the names that will be in the mix.”

Originally published as AFL 2025: Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell watching Carlton’s ‘extraordinary’ midfield closely