Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell joked he is “certainly ready for Dangerfield to retire” and flagged “aggressive” recruitment in the offseason after the Geelong captain turned back the clock to eliminate his Hawks in Friday’s preliminary final.
Watch every match of the 2025 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Dangerfield recorded 32 disposals, eight clearances and three goals in the 30-point win, which had Mitchell conceding in his post-game conference that “sometimes they were just a bit too good”.
Dangerfield especially.
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
“I’m certainly ready for Dangerfield to retire,” Mitchell laughed.
“He knows what matters; he’s not worried about his numbers. He knows the moments when he needs to get himself into the game and do something very hard to stop.
“He was a bit too powerful a few times today and a bit too dominant for us.”
While a disappointing result in the end for Mitchell considering the way the Hawks started the game, it was another step in the right direction after a semi-final appearance last season.
But while it may be easy to buy into the idea of the young Hawks as a team on the rise with plenty of growth left in them to keep improving, Mitchell was adamant he and the rest of the coaching staff wouldn’t get complacent and simply expect this year’s success to repeat in 2026.
MORE PRELIMINARY FINAL NEWS
CATS RATINGS: ‘Freak’ explodes in vintage masterpiece; how Cats filled brutal star void
HAWKS RATINGS: Key duo give all in frustrating PF loss… as EIGHT teammates fail
Scott full of praise for Dangerfield | 06:26
“The game doesn’t stand still for anyone,” Mitchell said.
“If we play exactly as well as we did this year, we probably won’t make the eight next year.
“We’ve got work to do, every club. Fifteen clubs now – finished. Everyone’s getting to work on how to improve for next season.
“We start back at ground zero and we’re gonna have plenty of work to do like every other club.”
Could that include trading for Essendon skipper Zach Merrett?
He already met with Mitchell and while the Bombers captain is reportedly keen on the move, Essendon has been adamant it won’t be trading him despite the situation growing increasingly ugly.
When one reporter posed to Mitchell that a loss like the one to Geelong on Friday night summed up why they would go after a player of Merrett’s calibre, the Hawks coach said a lot without saying much at all.
MORE PRELIMINARY FINAL NEWS
SCOTT PRESSER: Cats coach calls for change after ‘shattering’ blow
Cats down Hawks to make grand final | 04:07
“I feel like you made a pretty good argument just there,” he simply replied.
While Mitchell clearly didn’t want to go into too much detail when it came to Merrett, he did promise the Hawks would once again be “aggressive” in trying to improve their list ahead of next season.
“I don’t think it’s any surprise that we’re going to be aggressive in trying to make our list the best it can be and I think every club is doing that,” Mitchell said.
“So I’m not ready for this yet but free agency, the draft, trade period — they’re all ways we can improve our list and we’re going to need to do that. Everyone is.
“Even if we’re the same as we are this year, that’s not going to even make the eight next year. The game goes forward every year.
“We’ve got progress to make and I’m enormously proud of the whole journey. Some of that has been aggressive development, some of it has been aggressive free agency.
“But the aim isn’t to sit here in the preliminary final week as a loser and say we’ve achieved.
“I’ve got a level of pride but I also have a level of desperation to go a couple of steps further than this.”