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“Hit to the ego”: What Hawthorn prioritised against Collingwood
Andrew Slevison • August 8th, 2025 1:41 pm
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell admits his players copped a “hit to the ego” the last time they played Collingwood.
The Hawks were belted to the tune of 51 points by the Magpies at the MCG in Round 12.
On Thursday night the Hawks smacked the Pies by 64 points in a statement win.
Mitchell suggested that on the previous occasion his Hawks were run off their legs but this time felt they could gain the upper hand given the “older” Pies were coming off a five-day break after the loss to Brisbane last Saturday night.
“I thought they well and truly outran us earlier in the year,” Mitchell said on SEN’s Fireball.
“That was one of the more disappointing games of our season. We showed some vision to the lads about them outrunning us.
“We took that as a bit of a hit to the ego. We knew that they were an older side coming off a five-day break so we thought that the running power was going to be really important.
“Whether that was the longer distance of Connor MacDonald or Dylan Moore or Karl Amon types, or it was the dynamic fast feet which Nick Daicos in particular is just so good at. We put Nick Watson in and around the ball and guys like that with really dynamic speed is really important in those games. To be able to have a mix of both.
“Peter Burge, our fitness guy, has got our boys just humming at the right time and we certainly look like we’re covering the ground pretty well.”
Mitchell highlighted the powerful running of rebounding defenders Karl Amon and Jarman Impey who were both at the top of their respective games against the Pies.
“With Karl and Jarman in particular they’ve got a fair bit of running power,” Mitchell said of the former Port Adelaide pair.
“There was a great play late in the game when Jarman Impey just put the hammer down and it was, ‘Wow, that’s seriously fast’.
“Late in the game to still have that running power available in your back half is what the best sides have and he’s important for us.”
Another power runner at the Hawks is Josh Weddle who is currently sidelined with a bone stress injury in his back.
Mitchell says there remains a chance that Weddle could be back for finals, provided the Hawks do get there.
“There’s some chance. It’s on track, I think he’s another week away from the second version of the same thing,” the coach said of the 21-year-old.
“One, we keep rolling him on and we’ll see what it looks like in another couple of weeks, or it’s not as good as we’d like. We continue to hold out hope.
“He won’t available for the home and aways, we know that already. So the first final, if we get there, to ensure he even gets a chance at it.”
On the back of the impressive win the Hawks now sit fifth on the ladder ahead of next weekend’s clash with Melbourne. Beat the Demons in that and finals look very likely.
