THERE has been no "finger-pointing" at Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis after Hawthorn's upset 10-point loss to Greater Western Sydney, Hawks veteran Sam Mitchell says.
The Hawks were shocked by the Giants on Saturday, when they coughed up comfortable leads in the second, third and fourth quarters to lose to the expansion club for the first time.
Dual-premiership captain Hodge and his deputy Lewis were both serving the first of their multi-game suspensions, robbing the Hawks of their leaders and arguably most in-form players as the reigning premiers slumped to 3-3 after six rounds.
No excuses, says Clarkson
But on Monday, Mitchell refused to blame his long-time teammates for the result.
"You can't be annoyed at players that aren't there. You're probably annoyed at yourself," he said.
"When you have a loss, the first thing you do is have a look at your own game and what you could have done on a personal level to try and improve it.
"When you have close losses like the three we've had, it's pretty hard to get some sleep when you're running over all those little things that you could've improved that might have made a difference.
"So there's not too much finger-pointing."
It was the first time in six games the Hawks have lost without Hodge and Lewis in the side.
They will again be missing for the round seven clash with Melbourne at the MCG, although Mitchell said the vastly experienced pair were still helping the team during their enforced breaks.
"They've still got a role to play. They're not going to play on the field this week but there's a role for them to play trying to help us win this game.
"I've seen them already this morning. They're watching tape, looking at vision, seeing things that we can do better."
Mitchell, who was among the Hawks' best with 34 touches and a goal, said inconsistency during matches and skill errors were costing the team this season, putting pressure on their undersized defence.
Injured key defenders Brian Lake, James Frawley and Matt Spangher were also missing from the GWS loss as Hawthorn conceded 100 points for the first time this year – with star forward Jeremy Cameron booting seven goals.
"Our defensive action needs a little bit of work, but we don't lay that at the feet of our defence," Mitchell said.
"You turn the ball over in midfield and instead of being a nice-looking inside 50 for us it goes straight up to the other end and becomes a goal for them.
"It becomes a spirit-crushing play for a team and that happened on numerous occasions."
The Hawks hope to find a happier hunting ground against Melbourne, a team they have beaten in their past 11 contests.
Frawley (pectoral) is expected to be fit to face his former side and Lake (knee) is an outside chance to return for the clash.
"I don't think he's (Frawley) 100 per cent but I think he'll hopefully get through this week unscathed and get back in," Mitchell said.
"I'm not sure if I'm out of school here but I don't think Lakey will be quite ready for this week, although he would like to be. He didn't think he needed to miss any games at all, he's a pretty optimistic fella, Lakey."
