A visibly flat Sam Mitchell has conceded the Hawks are "miles off" the best teams in the competition after taking a third-straight defeat to a top-eight side.
Hawthorn have lost to Gold Coast, Brisbane and now Collingwood in their last three matches, placing the Hawks with a 7-5 record after a solid 7-2 start in the opening nine rounds.
However in that patch the Hawks never looked convincingly at their best, lacking the spark that captivated football fans in 2024.
The Hawks' defensive energy was evidently zapped on Friday night again, with Collingwood clunking 18 marks inside 50 as Hawthorn defenders repeatedly trailed behind their direct opponent, while across the ground, the Hawks were unable to apply pressure, laying just 38 tackles on the night as Collingwood laid 82.
Mitchell admitted the tackle count was a major blight on Hawthorn's performance, but also took the blame on the coaching end for enabling the discrepancy of -44.
"I think sometimes you look at tackle count, and you think it's player effort, but it's not just that," the Hawthorn coach said.
"It's the way we set the game up as coaching staff. We're in it together with them. We need to put ourselves in positions to tackle. We obviously won the clearances, we won first possession, won contested possession, and so when you win those things, invariably, usually, you get out-tackled by a couple, but not by... I think we only laid 38 tackles for the game.
"So we've got some work to do in enabling positions where we can get our players in positions to tackle more often, because you're not going to beat a side like that if you can only lay 38 tackles."
In a lengthy post-match meeting with players, Hawthorn's Jack Ginnivan revealed on Seven that the Hawks players were anticipating another "bring your mouthguards" session on Tuesday training, as Mitchell is set to raise the physical standards.
๐ฃ๏ธ "Getting back to basics and ... bring your mouth guards to training and put your head over the footy and have a crack."
- Jack Ginnivan on what the post-match message was in the Hawthorn rooms pic.twitter.com/1sxYFANWGo
โ 7AFL (@7AFL) May 30, 2025
Mitchell's assessment of the game in the post-match press conference was blunt, however, laying his frustrations with the Hawks' efforts bare.
"That was another level today, so that's what we need to aspire to, and above, to beat them when it matters. We've got plenty of work to do," Mitchell said.
"Where do I think they're at? We just got beaten by 10 goals. So that's where they're at.
"We knew we were not at the top, and we've got some work to do to get there, but we know that we will improve if we put the work in. But, that was a pretty big reality check for what the best look like at this stage of the season."
Attention now turns to a clash with the Western Bulldogs, who, despite owning just a 6-5 record, are regarded as one of the best teams in the competition this year, yet to lose a game by more than four goals.
"We've got a six-day break. We've got the Dogs next Thursday, so that's a chance to see where we're at again, and we're going to need to play better," Mitchell said.
"We're not going to beat too many teams playing the way we did tonight."
