Mitchell heaps praise on players after win over Kangaroos 👊 | Hawthorn press conference | Fox Footy

last week you said the performance was completely unacceptable what did you make of the response tonight yeah I thought the players um they were really strong they were great um I enjoyed watching even even some of the goals we gave up were the right type you know we genuinely tried to put the opposition under pressure and I thought the players to a man you know held up their end of the bargain in that area and um you know their response was fantastic the asset was clearly on that Midfield group based on last week's effort and then we see con Nash and Jo can both get over 30 this week you win the contested possession you also win the clearances as well you're happy with the bounce back from the Midfield oh not just the Midfield I think collectively I don't think anyone had any line had their hand up last week for for not lowering their colors and I think today um that collectively the performance was of such a high standard you know they're a young they're a very young side as well like we are so we knew that you know you're going to be playing against players who are of a similar age profile to what we had and um and we did that last week but we couldn't compete with them and so this week when we play against another side that we think age-wise we should be able to compete with I was just I thought the players had a real desperation about them and that's what the best teams have week in and week out and we produced it today and the challenge for us is can we produce it every week you bought back Gunston and Harry Morrison who obviously added experience both to the forward line and also to the middle as well what you make of thees yeah I thought Harry Morrison um was really good on the on his wing and you know I think the thing with Harry is he's really consistent in his efforts and his communication and he sets everyone else up around him so I was pleased he was able to make the most of his chance and get his opportunity and I think with Jack you know even though he hasn't been playing I've Loved what he's been doing it's exactly what we got into the club for he he's been a fantastic leader around the group he's he brings people along and shows them things and he's coaching and you know we felt like he would do a better job with on the field this week which he did and um you know he had some great he had some good moments himself but he also was able to set people up and when you for those who came to the game live they would have seen that he's a you know having a coach out there and when you have players who are driving a standard the way that he did um it does make the players around him stand up a little bit taller how carefully did your way up publicly making your feelings clear last week and what impact do you think it can have on the group um I mean press conferences straight after a game are difficult things to do regardless of the of the of the game I think dep who you think you're talking to is really important and to me we got you know 80,000 members and they they continue to turn up to games they they come to they come to Marvel on a Sunday afternoon and support us they come to tazzy they go to Queens land they go to the MCG and our our fans have turned up every time you know never never have we been really disappointed in a crowd so to me um first and foremost I'm talking to the 880,000 Hawks members and they deserve to see the pain that we're in when we perform the way we did last week but by the same token they deserve to see the joy that we have out of a game like today and um you know I thought they should have been really proud of the players today I think that they just left it all out there there was so much ice and sore spots and had a really difficult um you know difficult week on the track and the players drove that you know Dylan Mo's comments last week James Sicily's comments um I think when you've got your leaders of your of your playing group who are not accepting of poor performance the way we had and they drive it themselves then um you know you get a response like that and I I just thought that they made the 80,000 proud so that's who you know that's who we're talking to when we pull on that jumper Jo comes into the the team this week Sam while he didn't dominate the stat she he seemed to allow that backline to work a bit more freely in terms of allowing Sam frost and also Jack to be able to come in and intercept what did you make of I guess the backline group as grot yeah we we made a bit of a a bit of a change obiously went a bit smaller in the front half and unfortunately he can't fit um we couldn't fit Max Ramson in and really he didn't do a lot wrong he actually competed quite well in he's in his two games but we thought J song had been really consistent at vfl level he' performed at a at a good level consistently for a long period of time and had ear earn his spot and um you know I think the backline just was a little bit more defensively minded today and um it push Carl push Carl up the ground and you know I think Frosty I think Frosty for all is um you know I think you guys love getting into him in general but I I think when you watched him play today you can see someone who it means a lot to him and he played with desperation there was a contest right in front of the um coach's box you know with a minute to go where he just he was desperate for physical contact and when you have players um who want the contact and who want the pressure and who want the game played you know Mana to be proud of then then that leads the way for the back half and I think you know I think all of our Defenders perform pretty well today what are you making of the development of your Midfield more generally Sam obviously Ward went back to the vfl McKenzie's only 20 games in what's your what's your assessment of How It's tracking oh I think the Midfield is a really good work in progress you know we really struggled a couple years ago last year as a collective took took big gains forward but individually not every player was playing well every week you know warps really carried us on his own for the first few rounds of this year and now with the last couple he's been a little bit quieter but the other guys have been able to step up a little bit more and um I thought wardy was fantastic at the vfl yesterday um you know he had some challenges in front of him and he's a he's an enormously disciplined young fell who's who's going to bounce back really quickly um it doesn't and I've said this to him it doesn't it doesn't Dent anything about the future that he's going to have at this club he's going to be a great player for us and I think that was Wy and then you got cam McKenzie who's still finding his finding his feet as well as Henry hwe who's been the sub for probably a few games in a row now but continues to show something when he gets his opportunity how we Bond and gel those that group together um is is continues to be a work in progress obviously much better today and the change of Ruckman a couple of weeks ago has has led to some more consistent results as well so mck's been able to hold up his end of the bargain so the when I look at our Midfield I'm pleased with the progression and the learning but it's far from a finished product me chipping for a couple of goals too that last one was quite nice I think David hail was pretty quick to point out that that was his second so no good for pleased for me he had he actually had pulled up pretty sore from last week and wasn't able to do everything this week on the track so I was really pleased that he was able to perform well he had a spread of 10 goal kickers for the game you're happy with the way that obviously everyone's contributing to to being able to get the six points yeah I mean I must admit I don't really look at that too too often I think we did try to share the ball going forward we're a little bit smarter with our ball use in the front half this week and you know a bit better the the conditions obviously last week with the slippery conditions we didn't handle well and here you know under a roof um I think we're back here in a couple of weeks as well so you you you can predict the conditions and you can set your game style a little bit better so um you know I thought our front half of the ground in general worked much more um functionally today all right thanks