Alastair Clarkson of Hawthorn during the 2019 AFL round 5 match between Hawthorn and Geelong at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday, 22 April 2019 in Melbourne, Victoria.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell described his team’s performance against the Gold Coast Suns as “as bad as we’ve played in a long time” in a startling spray.
The Suns defeated the Hawks by 53 points at People First Stadium on the Gold Coast, with the hosts dominating the second half.
The defeat to the Suns also marked Hawthorn’s fifth loss in as many games to begin the 2024 season, the club’s worst start since 1970.
Mitchell was at a loss to explain how his team delivered such a poor performance against the Gold Coast.
“We lost every aspect of that game,” Mitchell remarked in his postgame press conference.
“We lost the midfield battle, we couldn’t win a contest in front of the ball, and we couldn’t keep them from scoring on the other end.
“There was not a single aspect of that game that went in our favour.”
When asked what his team lacked against the dominant Suns, Mitchell cited his team’s tendency to “invite” pressure on themselves.
“I think if you’re not good in the contest and aren’t willing to constantly withstand the pressure of the opponent, I think we’re probably the easiest team to put pressure on.
“They were really good in that area. And we didn’t handle the conditions, we weren’t consistent enough in our play.
“Last week was a step in the right direction but we didn’t win, so it’s not really the direction we’re after.”
Barring a sensational run of form, finals football this season now appears a distant dream for the Hawks after such a dismal start.
And Mitchell knows these performances simply cannot continue.
“We can’t play AFL football against aspiring finals teams and cough up the ball the way we did, lose contests the way we did,” Mitchell said.
“You’re just not going to be able to compete against anyone, the way we played tonight. And that’s a completely unacceptable way to play, and we should be past games like that.”
“They (Gold Coast) were really good, but that’s as bad as we’ve played in a long time.”
Hawthorn will have its best chance of snapping its five-game winless streak when they take on fellow strugglers North Melbourne next Sunday.
