Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson has admitted that he was disappointed in Tom Mitchell’s performance against Collingwood on Saturday night, as the Hawks kicked away with a win over the Pies 15.11 (101) to 9.13 (67).
The 3-time premiership coach was asked in the post-match interview about his thoughts on Tom Mitchell’s record breaking 54 disposal game, to which he express his frustration at Mitchell “not playing his role”.
“We specifically talked about this pre-game. Last time he amassed 50 disposals against Collingwood, we lost. Simple as that. We believe we gave him pretty clear instructions heading into this game, so for him to turn around and do that, it’s pretty disappointing.”
“What did he go at? 70% disposal efficiency and only 500 meters gained. Buckley said it himself last time we met he’s just not damaging enough with his disposal. We have to ask for more.”
In 2017 Hawthorn lost 10 games with Mitchell having over 30 touches, 3 of those he had over 40 touches.
“This week, we got lucky but last year’s results speak for themselves, we have to get better as a club and individually. At Hawthorn, we’re all about playing your role, and Tom will be the first one to put his hand up and say he didn’t do that tonight.”
“We’ve been trying get his touches below 30 since he’s moved here and he’s really struggled with that direction. There’s some flaws in his game that we’re working on, some habits he’ll need to unlearn, but we’ll get there.”