Hawthorn Coach Sam Mitchell has spoken ahead of his side's Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash when it faces Yartapuulti at Adelaide Oval this Sunday.

As part of the celebrations, Hawthorn will be donning its 2024 Indigenous Guernsey for the first time, inspired by Hawthorn great and First Nations trailblazer Chance Bateman.

Bateman is a fan favourite of many Hawks supporters, having become the first Indigenous man to surpass 100 games for the club, play in a premiership and receive Hawthorn life membership. 

Hear what Mitchell had to say on Bateman and more during his press conference today below.

On the club's Indigenous Guernsey 

"We had Chance come over from Perth three weeks ago, he did a whole presentation on the players and talked about the jumper, how it was designed and what each aspect of the jumper means. But really it was about his story as well, where he came from and some of the hard times he went through. You look at everything about Chance and you can't help but to be filled with admiration for him. It was a fantastic story for our players to see. I love catching up with him every chance I get, and it was great to get him over and to now wear the jumper this weekend, the boys are rapt with it."

Taking on Yartapuulti

"Port Adelaide are a fantastic side – their best is as good as anyones, we know that. We've seen them put some very, very good sides away comfortably including last week (against Geelong) – they’re a side we know we’re going to have to compete really well in every aspect of the game to be able to compete with them consistently. But we’re very focussed on our own game development and making sure were making progress."

On his side’s development this season

"I think some of the game management was important – some of the things we’ve been working on the track (have come to fruition). The last month we’ve really had a focus on basics of the game, we’ve seen that lag effect has started to come out in the game. Some of the game management and understanding of what to do in key moments has improved. We’re not conceding as many scores in those times and what that has done has put us in more winnable positions."

Listen to Mitchell's full press conference below.