Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell (21.09.26)
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How did Sam Mitchell react to the heartbreaking preliminary final loss?
Alright, Sam Mitchell has been good enough to join us after a heartbreaking loss in a prelim final. He's been good to us all year and he's delivered again for us this morning. Sam, thanks for your time. How are
you feeling? Yeah, starting to come out of the cape a bit and reflect a bit more on the holistic part of the season and not all the way there, but moving forward, starting
to at
least.
You grabbed your players on field straight after the game for a lengthy address. What did you say?
Um, oh, just that I was, I was proud of them and it looked like there was a fair bit, a fair bit happening. Um, so let's act with, um, humility and thank our fans who had all turned out. So you were seen after that, we walked off and, and, and gave a, gave a clap to some of the people who were still there. And, um, obviously some of the things that we've found out since there was a very small portion of those fans that didn't act appropriately, which is, sort of soured what was probably one of the greatest games of all time. So disappointing that a few fans decided to throw things and not act appropriately. So that was a bit disappointing. But talking to the players was really about making sure we hold our heads high.
Two preliminary final losses in a row. This is not the end of our journey. We need to be back and we need to be better than we are right now again.
So was that in response to what you'd seen with Barras and Cicely? No, I
must admit, I didn't see that at all.
What did Sam say about the fans’ inappropriate behaviour after the game?
I hadn't seen that or heard about that at all until I just saw the bottle. On the ground, there was a lot of debris, I guess you would call it. So I hadn't seen any of that. I assume that was all happening while we were coming back down from the coach's box. No, I wasn't across that. I read a story about a a young eight-year-old who had, you know, nachos thrown at them in the footy. And I think one of the great things, I'll be on record about this regularly, saying how good is Aussie rules footy that you can just take anyone, you can sit anywhere, you can feel safe all the time. And I think we lost that for a moment after the game. And, you know, I don't think that's ever what anyone wants. So making sure that we behave appropriately, which goes to our players as well, and going towards umpires after games, I don't think is appropriate behaviour either.
Yeah.
So have you had a chat to those two senior players in Sicily and Barras about their behaviour?
Yeah, we caught up yesterday. Box Hill had a great win in their grand final yesterday, so we all sat and watched that and certainly caught up with those boys and chatted through it. So they'll work through the fines and all the things that they have to do at their end, but I think they knew that the emotions got well and truly the better of them at that moment.
Should it be a suspension, Mitch? These are sort of tense moments at AFL level and they're tense moments at local level or all feeder comps really that we've just got to maintain some respect for the umpiring fraternity as they exit the field. Is it a suspension rather than a fine going forward?
I'm not going to get into that.
How were James Sicily and Tom Barrass addressed regarding their post‑match conduct?
I agree with your second point, David. I think the umpires have got an enormously difficult job and I go and watch my kids play sport and I think that the way people treat umpires is very, very important all the way through from junior footy, junior sports all the way into the ASL and we have to set a very high bar for what we accept in that area.
So
I won't get into what the ramifications should be, but I wouldn't call it a pattern of behaviour. So I think the thing that has to happen is we need to make sure our umpires are respected and treated that way. And I look back now at the game with a little bit of time and I think about all the errors that we made the last one with the German impi. Clearly that's a free kick. And I looked at the three players standing around who, in any other circumstance, would have done something, but they were stunned mullets at the moment that matters most and they're the things that we'll be able to work on in our off-season and making sure that we can continue to improve because those individual moments, if they come down to them, there's always going to be some luck involved.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Sam Mitchell react to the heartbreaking preliminary final loss?
0:11–1:46
2
What did Sam say about the fans’ inappropriate behaviour after the game?
1:46–3:29
3
How were James Sicily and Tom Barrass addressed regarding their post‑match conduct?
3:29–5:18
4
Why were centre‑bounce goals such a problem for Hawthorn in the loss?
5:18–7:03
5
What was the issue with Will Day’s role and performance on the day?
7:03–8:35
6
How does Sam assess Hawthorn’s overall season and the narrow margins that defined it?
8:35–9:55
7
What are Hawthorn’s off‑season priorities and personal plans for Sam Mitchell?
9:55–11:20
8
Will there be changes to the coaching staff and how does Sam view the upcoming grand final?
11:20–12:16
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from SEN Breakfast
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"It was everything we love about footy." | First Thoughts - Hawthorn vs Brisbane (21.09.26)