HAWTHORN vice-captain Isaac Smith has opened up about his late miss that resulted in a memorable three-point win to Geelong on Saturday.

And the 28-year-old says he has received his fair share of social media criticism after missing the game-winning shot at goal.

With seven seconds left in the game, Smith marked the ball just inside the 50m arc from a Jack Gunston kick, but played on instead of taking the set shot.

Smith, whose kick drifted wide, explained his heat-of-the-moment decision.

"I wasn't quite sure if I marked it outside 50 or inside 50, so I wasn't quite sure on the distance," Smith told Channel Nine on Sunday.

"I saw I had time and space in front of me and usually on the run I don't miss, and yesterday I did."

The moment drew instant comparisons to Smith's miss in last year's qualifying final against Geelong at the MCG when he failed to convert a set shot after the siren.

WATCH: Smith's miss in the qualifying final

"Lightning strikes twice and you wouldn't think it would happen twice against the same team in under 12 months, but it has," Smith said.

"Social media has been pretty interesting the last 24 hours.

"I've had a few giggles and there's been a few interesting comments but it's also nice, there's a lot of messages of support."

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson refused to blame Smith after the game.

"There's hundreds of moments in a game and that's just unfortunate," Clarkson said.

"We had plenty of opportunities earlier in the game to try and do better than what we did. It shouldn't really come down to the last seconds of a game to determine whether you win or lose."