Returning to Optus Stadium for the third time this season holds no fears for Hawthorn, with Sam Mitchell declaring the Hawks are a well-prepared as possible for a hostile finals atmosphere against Fremantle.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday morning, Mitchell addressed the Hawks return to Perth for a second game in two weeks and the realities of an interstate final.
Mitchell also spoke on the likes of Will Day and Max Beattie playing their first AFL finals and shared his excitement ahead of Hawthorn AFLW Captain Emily Bates’ 100th game and the club’s first official game at the Kenney Community Centre on Sunday.
We summarised the key points from Mitchell’s press conference below.
On returning to Perth
“I don’t think it’s a concern, they’ve done it all year – Every second week travel to Perth, for them it’s the other way. But they finished on top so I don’t think that’s an issue. We’ll go, most of us will go today (Tuesday) and a couple guys will go tomorrow (Wednesday) but a bit of flexibility in how we do it and we feel like the extra day over there works quite well, we did that against the Eagles in the last round and felt like it gave us pretty good preparation. We’re confident in our system and the way that we operate our travels has worked pretty well. We do, I mean third game, and I’m glad we’ve played there (Optus Stadium). If you’re going to play your first final in Perth, it’s good that we’ve been there a couple times already this year and we’ve experienced a game against Freo and we played West Coast in the last game of the season and we’re about as well prepared as you can be to play in what’s going to be a pretty hostile against what’s been the best team in the competition all year.”
On playing interstate finals
“Yeah it’s funny, we have played some interstate finals and I think going into last year we hadn’t won in GWS basically at all, so going there it was something different. And I think our record against Freo hasn’t been great so we’re going to have to play some really good footy against a quality side but we know our best will get it done. They’re very consistent in what they do and I don’t think there’s any surprises from either team about how we’re going to line up, what we’re trying to achieve as a team and the way that we play and that’s what’s great about finals, the outcome, despite knowing so much is still a genuine unknown.”
On Max Beattie
“He’s been great hasn’t he. You bring these guys in in the mid-season and it’s really, it is an unknown. That draft, obviously we’ve had some great success, with Jai Newcombe in particular in the mid-season, but I think with Maxy, he’s not flustered, he doesn’t seem to mind what’s happening around him, doesn’t matter the stage, he’s just handled everything like a pro so really pleased with how he’s gone about it. I think there is a bit of hope when you get these guys in and you see what they do at training and you see them at Box Hill and you think ‘I think he’s going to be able to do this at AFL level’ but you’re not really sure and then some guys when they step up, they seem to do it quite comfortably and he’s been one of those so far. But it’s very early in his campaign of his career, he’s play on Thursday and looking forward to seeing what he can do in what is it? Game three.”
On Will Day’s first final
“When he got hurt last year, we knew that was going to be a significant time off and then he hurt his shoulder at the start of this season, but we knew we’d get him back midyear. And he’s done exactly what we expected he’d do, he’s been a really important performer for us, he’s not the panacea who’s just going to fix every issue but he’s a really important player for us and we know he’s a vital cog in the way that we want to play. Cam Mackenzie hasn’t played finals either, so he’s not the only one, we’re going to have a few guys, Max Beattie’s only played a couple of games, but there’s a lot of guys that will have their first finals experience. But they’re surrounded by guys like Jack Gunston who’ve played a lot and so can we share our experience around to make sure we can perform close to our highest level.”
On Hawthorn AFLW Captain Emily Bates’ 100th game this weekend
“I’ve loved working with Batesy, right back from when I went to the W words when she won the best player in the coemption and listening to her speak and so impressive. And then she came into our organisation a year later and the level of professionalism that she has brought to this organisation and it’s easy to say the W program, but she’s just as professional as any of the men as well. I think we’ve all been able to learn from the levels you can take yourself ,and she’s an absolute pro and 100 games is basically 10 years of high level W play and so super excited to go and see her don the brown and gold at the first time here (Kennedy Community Centre) as well so I think it’s going to be quite exciting.”
Watch Mitchell’s full Press Conference below.
