Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley accepts Hawthorn midfielder Tom Mitchell was the best player on the MCG last Saturday night, but said it wasn't the reason the Hawks won the game.
Mitchell amassed an AFL record 54 touches in Hawthorn's win, which was the second time in his career he had collected over 50 disposals, with both matches coming against the Pies.
Buckley admitted Mitchell was impressive, but said he would gladly let it happen again providing the Pies take their opportunities going forward.
“He was best on ground, let’s be clear, but it has been overblown about how significant his performance was in the result because there were so many things we were in control of that we didn’t get done, that didn’t get the result,” Buckley told SEN’s Whateley on Wednesday morning.
“In the last quarter, Tom Mitchell had 17 touches but we went inside 50 19 times to 9.
“If you extrapolate that out, Tom Mitchell has 76 touches and we have 80 inside 50’s to 40. I would take that.
“Let’s not get caught up in how many touches a bloke gets.”
Buckley said the Magpies did in fact send a player to tag Mitchell out of the game in the second quarter, but because the job was done poorly, they decided to give up on the idea.
“We sent a player to him in the last 10 minutes of the second quarter and it didn’t happen and didn’t get done,” Buckley said.
“The diligence to perform that role wasn’t up to standard."
Collingwood will be hoping to bounce back in a big way on Saturday, when they host GWS at the MCG.
