Hawthorn Senior Coach Sam Mitchell is looking forward to reigniting the famous Hawthorn v Essendon rivalry on Friday night at the MCG. 

Speaking to the media on Wednesday morning, Mitchell also acknowledged Blake Hardwick’s contribution to Hawthorn as he prepares to play his 200th game. 

We summarised the key points from Mitchell’s press conference below. 

On the Essendon rivalry 

“When I first got to the club, it was something that had been around but wasn’t as new. Then obviously there was that big line in the sand game, and it got reinvigorated, and there’ve been a few things along the journey, but I think Hawthorn fans in general, this is the game they mark in the calendar as one they want to try and win. Outside of the current situation, if you look at the actual football, we’ve got some work to do. Our players understand that what we put up last week is not going to get it done. It’s Essendon, and that’s fantastic. It’s going to mean there’s 90,000+ there, there’s going to be more people watching and more eyeballs on it, but for us, we know the expectations are on ourselves to perform at this level.”

On the improvement he would like to see this week 

“I would love to pass the eye test. I know that’s perhaps not what people say when they stand up here, but I want the Hawthorn fans to go along to say yeah, that’s a team that I’m glad I support, I’m proud of the effort and the way that team goes about it, I’m proud that I’m going to be wearing my Hawthorn jumper home. If we can pass the eye test of the Hawthorn members and fans, then I think that means we can win a lot of games.”

On Blake Hardwick 

“He’s a consistent high-performer. He’s got a unique skillset. Off the field, I’m looking forward to seeing him in front of these cameras and microphones because he’ll be enormously uncomfortable, but on the field, he’s the loudest, he’s the best teammate out there. You know, you talk to the players about who they love running out next to, and he’s the first one that’ll come up, not just for this team but for this generation, really. I think he’s played every game since I’ve been coaching, and he’s a bit of a safety blanket for me. Blake, we can’t kick goals, can you please go forward and fix that? We can’t stop goals, Blake, can you go and sort that out? There’s a player on the opposition that’s causing us some trouble, Blake, can you go and sort that? He’s a very non-fuss player. He’s about as tough as they come and as good a teammate as there is in the league, so I’m really proud that he gets to this point in his career where he’s played 200 games.”

Watch Mitchell’s full press conference below