Speaking on Monday morning after Hawthorn’s disappointing loss to Essendon on Friday night, the Hawks skipper said the team hadn’t been performing to its ability.
“We’ve had a diabolical start to the season. We’ve lost some games we thought we should have won and haven’t played anywhere near our best footy,” Mitchell said.
“Even some of the wins we’ve had, we’ve been lucky to win. Every bloke who played on the weekend needs to have a bit of a look and see what he can do to help the team play better.”
The Hawks have had a difficult injury run this year but Mitchell said that was not the reason for its 3-4 record.
“It is not an excuse. We’ve still got six defenders playing every week. It is a bit of a cop out to say it is just the injuries that are costing us,” he said.
“If we had our full contingent of players on the weekend and we played the way we went about it we still wouldn’t have won.”
The injury list has grown even further after Friday night, with stars Luke Hodge(adductor) and Chance Bateman (calf)in the medical room.
Mitchell said neither had been ruled out of this week’s game against Fremantle and that Hodge’s injury was an ongoing problem that he had to manage.
“It is pretty good on some days and pretty ordinary on others. It is pretty hard to predict. I think he pulled up better than he thought he would. Hopefully he can play (this week),” he said.
“He is one of those guys that loves playing footy and just wants to get out there. It will take a fair bit to keep him off the track.”
Mitchell said the in-form Fremantle side would be a formidable opponent this Friday night after knocking off Carlton last week.
“They look good. They looked very dangerous. Young (Stephen) Hill looks nice and promising. I think their midfield is really coming together,” he said.
“Paul Hasleby is back to close to his best form and getting some confidence back. I think you are doing a pretty good job of it if you can get anywhere near stopping big (Aaron) Sandilands at the moment.”
