Hawks coach Sam Mitchell says his side’s inaccurate goal kicking will keep him “up for a couple of nights.”
The Hawks gave up a 27-point half-time lead as they went down to the Dogs, managing just 1.11 in the second half.
Mitchell said many of the shots were “gettable”.
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“I think in front of goal some polish was a bit of an issue,” Mitchell said.
“I thought we gave ourselves a lot of good entries, a lot of good chances … and didn’t make the most of our chances.
“Some of our best footy was played tonight and some of our worst. They really took their chances and we didn’t take ours.”
But with a bye ahead, Mitchell said he believes his team are still in a great spot.
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“When I look at this game and I look at the first half of the season, we go into our bye now … and we’ll be in the top four with a missed opportunity right in our rear view mirror,” he said.
“I get more mail about goal kicking than anything else, but we probably do more work on goal kicking than anything else. So, disappointing night tonight but we’ll get refreshed.
“We have a few days off now and we’ll recharge and get ready to go again after the bye.
“We’ll get better. We’ll assess … and make sure that we’re going to be an improved side in the second half of the season because right now, we’re not the best side in it and we need to be by the time September rolls around.”
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Meanwhile, Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said his backline was “supreme” as his side came from 29 points down to knock off the Hawks.
“I’m sure the numbers will say that Hawthorn should have won the game, but I thought our backline were supreme, outstanding,” Beveridge said.
“(They) just weathered a pretty big storm all night. To keep them to that total in the second half as far as the scoreline goes was pretty significant.”
Beveridge talked down suggestions of a brewing rivalry between the two sides after the fiery clash, but said they arrived knowing the Hawks had their measure previously.
“That eats at you,” he said.
“There’s great rivalries every week. I think it’s great for our players to experience tension, some hostility. Hopefully that’s all above board.
“When you’re coaching you don’t pay too much attention (to the melees). You just hope that you don’t give away undisciplined free kicks and I think we held ourselves together with that.”