Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says his club won't rely on its kicking skills to win games, with many of his prime movers unable to hit targets in the Easter Monday loss to Geelong.
In a thriller at the MCG that dealt with "blustery" winds, the Hawks went down by seven points, but not without having their chances to steal the victory.
Throughout the mouth-watering contest, fans and onlookers could see many unforced errors by those wearing the brown and gold, which shocked many.
"It was a little bit blustery, but it didn't affect (Geelong's) kicking," Mitchell said.
"Hopefully it's an outlier. When you play, your game style relies on hitting the kicks you think you should, and the amount of times we're caught offside because of blatant clanger errors.
"They're the right errors, if you're going to lose a game, I'd rather lose by skill error than by non-compliance to game plan or being unpredictable to teammates.
"It's on the better end of the spectrum... but you're not going to win a lot of games kicking the ball the way we did."
Captain James Sicily made some uncharacteristic errors by foot, while deadeye Jack Gunston led the team with an equal-high seven clangers.
Josh Weddle was hitting every second target by foot, while crafty forwards Nick Watson and Dylan Moore struggled with ball in hand.
However, Mitchell attempted to debunk that his side's kicking skills were its greatest strength in the opening month of the season, but they have dwindled in the past fortnight, ironically in two losses.
"I'm not sure it was our greatest strength," Mitchell added.
"I think it was the media that brought up the kicking skill. I'm not sure that was legitimate.
"You don't want to be a team that relies on elite kicking, because that's a hard way to play."
Hawthorn will also be pleased with how axed small forward Jack Ginnivan responded to missing the Easter Monday clash, with Connor Macdonald taking his place.
Ginnivan returned to Box Hill after four goalless matches, but hit the scoreboard with four majors and 22 possessions.
"Really pleased with how he responded," Mitchell said.
"Obviously, we got Connor Macdonald back, availability-wise, and they're a bit of a similar type.
"Jack wasn't bouncing along as well as we'd like, so we decided the best thing for him in his long term was to have a run around at Box Hill, which he did, and he performed really well.
"He looked a more vibrant version of himself, which is what we're after."
Midfielder Conor Nash is expected to be handed at least a three-week suspension for his errant swinging arm that concussed Geelong forward Gryan Miers.
Depth midfielder Henry Hustwaite has been dominating the VFL and is the likely replacement, while Finn Maginness could also be considered.
The Hawks will be looking to turn around a mini form slump when they host West Coast at Marvel Stadium in Round 7.
