Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell was torn between being disappointed to miss the top four and optimistic about the month that was ahead.

Ahead of facing either Greater Western Sydney or Fremantle away from home in an elimination final, Mitchell said the Hawks' 15-win home and away season was "good, but not great".

Hawthorn has a 1-5 record outside of Victoria and Tasmania, with the one win coming against Sydney in Opening Round.

It has lost against Fremantle, Adelaide and now Brisbane in the past seven weeks.

"They've all been close ones," he said. "That'll turn. We'll probably play interstate in our first final, so odds are in our favour.

"We're not writing ourselves off. We're disappointed, but excited. We get to play four finals instead of three now.

"Finals footy for the second year in a row, which is great for our group."

Mitchell said there were plenty of lessons to take from losing to the premier in front of a packed Gabba.

He said they bombed some scoring chances in the front half of the ground and also let the Lions move the ball a little easily on occasions.