Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has lamented his side’s ill-discipline in the 69-point loss to Fremantle, claiming his young players were simply “too eager” on Saturday night.
The Hawks finished on the end of a lopsided 21-10 free kick count at Optus Stadium, with leaders Sam Frost and James Sicily coughing up 50m penalties that handed the Dockers goals in the first half.
“We really shot ourselves in the foot … I’m getting a little bit sick of saying it,” Mitchell said post-match.
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“We had a lot of issues in the game – discipline, the free kicks was like 20 to five – it’s not an umpire thing, it’s just us.
“We’re too eager going into tackles, too much energy.
“The first two goals (for Fremantle) both came from free kicks. We didn’t handle situations well enough.”
Mitchell said he addressed players about their discipline during the contest, but wasn’t concerned it was going to be a long-term issue.
“When you make a mistake, you try to right that and sometimes you go too hard on those things,” he said.
“We had a couple sling tackles, coming in too hot, we just didn’t handle the pressure.
“From a leadership perspective, I’d rather have a group of players who are prone to going a bit too far and being too eager than trying to spark them up and energise them.”
Frost was penalised for a late shove on Docker Jye Amiss at centre half-forward, which saw him marched to within goal scoring range – at a time where the game still hung in the balance in the second term.
The defender also gave away the free kick for Michael Walters to kick the first goal of the match with a sloppy high tackle.
“He made two errors there – he dropped a chest mark and then tackled him around the neck! C’mon Frosty!” Fox Footy’s Dermott Brereton said in commentary.
Hawthorn Press Conference | 08:25
“It was a little crude. He wanted to atone.”
Hawks skipper Sicily lost his cool in the opening term when he coughed up a dissent 50m penalty which saw Josh Treacy goal.
“It’s a bit sloppy from Sicily,” Fox Footy’s Matthew Pavlich said.
“You can see he was not happy with the decision.”
But Mitchell said both those players were simply trying to stand tall for a young Hawks outfit.
“I think those two players (Frost and Sicily), Frosty had 10 intercept possessions tonight. You look at his performance, I don’t think he had any of those heart in mouth moments. You look at his progress… even at 28, he’s making progress in his game and getting better,” Mitchell said.
“He gave away an in the back free kick and dropped a mark early and then gave away a free kick when he was so annoyed at himself.
“They are parts of the game that are disappointing from your senior players … but they are not patterns of behaviour from those guys.
“Sis, he’s been so reliable for us for the whole season.
“He’s a guy that just stands up.
“He lost a couple of contests tonight which is unlike him … they’ll continue to learn their craft – they are all new to formal leadership positions.”
Fremantle Dockers Press Conference | 10:33
Mitchell said he still wanted to encourage his players to play with that on-the-edge intensity moving forward when they take on Melbourne in Round 9.
“When we played with high energy, we didn’t have the skills to pull it off… and let ourselves done with the final piece,” he said.
“We tried to play with a little more control later in the game and we actually controlled territory and field position but we had no energy in the game – there was no spirit about us.
“It wasn’t the type of footy we’d like to play long term.”
The Hawks have coughed up 155 free kicks this year – sitting the fifth most penalised behind Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Geelong and Richmond.
