Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says there are no excuses for his young side’s dismal start to the season but thinks there is a common denominator in both heavy losses.
The Hawks will travel to Tasmania to face North Melbourne reeling after two blowouts to open the season, succumbing to Essendon by 59 points in round 1 before the Swans hammered them by 81 to leave them moored at the foot of the AFL ladder.
Mitchell said missed chances to get ahead early in both games might have sapped the morale of his young charges, with their resilience during games something he wanted to fix.
“I think part of it is the expectation, early parts of the game against Sydney we had our chances, we could have been three goals each,” Mitchell said.
“It’s much easier to run on top of the ground and feel good when we’re getting reward for effort … a lot of the effort down the drain by shooting ourselves in the foot with ball use and shots on goal.
“It’s not an excuse, we absolutely should play the same way and the same spirit regardless of the scoreboard. We’re going to need to play with spirit all the time.”
Hawthorn will be bolstered by the return of Chad Wingard from a calf injury, while 2022 standouts Jack Scrimshaw and Harry Morrison would play their first games for the season in Launceston on Saturday, Mitchell said.
“Jack Scrimshaw’s been dealing with a couple of things, so he’ll be coming into the side, and Harry Morrison had some limited minutes in the VFL last week,” he said.
“There’s three guys coming back in, I don’t think we have anyone injured, and we need to make changes with the way we’ve played the first two games.”
Mitchell said Scrimshaw’s surprise absence in round 1 was due to a “limited preparation” rather than a tactical decision after the classy left-footer again finished in the top 10 of the Hawks’ best and fairest in 2022.
“He had a bit of a sore quad and a lot of other guys had performed really well in the pre-season and been a bit more consistent than him in his training,” Mitchell said.
“He spent a night in hospital last week, so he was only on limited minutes again on the weekend.
“He’s in our best side and he’s a fantastic player for us … we’re going to get him back in now that he has a little bit more footy under his belt.”
Mitchell also flagged a possible change to Hawthorn’s tall structure, with Ned Reeves under pressure after struggling to have an impact in the two losses.
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