Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says he may have “overtrained” his players in an old-school approach to the high-stakes game with AFL rivals North Melbourne.
However, he believes it is a gamble worth taking to elicit a response from his winless squad.
Mitchell increased his energy on the track this week despite consecutive six-day breaks over the previous fortnight, which resulted in a shocking 53-point loss to Gold Coast.
The Hawks will get a chance to make amends when they face the Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, with both teams coming into the game 0-5.
“We do some physical training every week and there’s been a little bit of extra competitiveness among that,” Mitchell told reporters on Friday.
“We’ve had two six-day breaks in a row, so there’s potential that we might have overtrained in that time.
“But we certainly know that going into this game confident in the work you’ve done was something that we prioritised over the physical freshness of the group.”
Mitchell will go head-to-head with former mentor and Hawthorn coaching predecessor Alastair Clarkson for the second time, having won their only previous duel last year.
The personal battle follows a messy coaching handover between the pair, which led to four-time premiership tactician Clarkson leaving the Hawks in 2021.
“Every week you look at the opposition team, you look at the opposition coach, what they like to do, how they like the game played – and this week’s no different,” Mitchell said.
“I’m sure (Clarkson) is looking at our stuff, looking at my theories, and I look at his. It’s the same as every week.”
Mitchell swung the axe with three changes to his side, dropping Josh Ward, Max Ramsden and Sam Butler for returning trio Harry Morrison, Jai Serong and Jack Gunston.
Veteran forward Gunston will start in attack after featuring in different roles at VFL level last week.
“We’re looking forward to having him just set us up with a little bit more leadership,” he added.
“We just missed a couple of wise heads last week to deal with the pressure (the Suns) provided and the consistency of it, so I believe having an additional smart head out on the field would be beneficial this week.
“He’ll start in front of the ball, and we know that as a rotation he can play just about anywhere on the field.”
North Melbourne returned Cameron Zurhaar from an ankle injury and recalled Will Phillips, while George Wardlaw (managed) and Hugh Greenwood (omitted) were left out.
