A SOMEWHAT terse Sam Mitchell wasn't mincing words in his post-match press conference after Hawthorn's 51-point loss to Collingwood, saying his team was "miles off it".

The Hawks coach kept his players in a meeting room for a considerable period after the final siren, but when asked about their response, simply said "I'm not going to tell you that", and moved onto the next question.

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"I asked them, actually. Had a bit of discussion, let it all out, where are you at, where are we at and what do you think?" Mitchell said.

"I think it was pretty clear to everyone who was here and everyone watching at home that we're – at this point – miles off it.

"That Collingwood team are super sharp. We played Brisbane last week and they're very good as well, but that was another level today. That's what we need to aspire to and above to beat them when it matters. We've got plenty of work to do.

"Where do I think they're at? We just got beaten by 10 goals. So that's where they're at.

"We know when players work hard, when we work hard as an organisation to improve, that's given us a benchmark of what we're aiming to get towards. We know we will improve if we put the work in, but that was a pretty big reality check of what the best look like at this stage of the season."

Hawthorn has seriously struggled in its tackle count in the past few weeks, recording 36 against Brisbane and 38 on Friday night. Opponent Collingwood had 82, which Pies coach Craig McRae said was a club differential record.

"It was a bit of a focus during the week. The two things – one is setting ourselves up for that. Sometimes you look at tackle count and you think it's player effort, but it's not just that, it's the way we set the game up as a coaching staff, we're in it together with them," Mitchell said.

"We need to put ourselves in the position to tackle. We obviously won the clearances, we won first possession, we won contested possessions, so when you win those things, invariably, usually, you get out-tackled by a couple, but 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 the position to tackle more often. Because you're not going to beat a side like that if you can only lay 38 tackles."

Mitchell said Blake Hardwick was carrying a knock to his quad, while subbed out Jack Scrimshaw was also sore, but he expected both to play next week against the Western Bulldogs.

By contrast, McRae was thrilled with his team's performance, labelling it mature, and close to its best display this year.

"I think the game up in Brisbane was really, really strong. It probably had similarities with tonight in the way we pressured and defended the ground, I think we kept Brisbane to a similar scoreline," McRae said.

"I really loved our maturity tonight, particularly in the last quarter when you think the opposition are going to take a lot of risks and try a few different things – just to be able to control the tempo of the game when we needed to, or whatever it looked like. It was a really great performance from us.

"It shows our ability to defend the ground against a really good team. They've had our measure, the last couple of times, in all different areas. Ball movement was one where we haven't been able to defend this team, and tonight, we showed we've got a bit of growth in us."

McRae confirmed a concussion diagnosis for winger Pat Lipinski, while small forward Lachie Schultz finished the game with an ice pack on his hamstring.

"He's got a minor hamstring, which is the second time around. Not major, minor, but still, we've got 10 days into Melbourne, then a bye. I think we'll be a bit cautious with Lachie. He's had a bit of time out now, and he's an important player and part of what we're doing, so we'll make sure we get that right," he said.

"Dan McStay might be touch and go, he's close. Young Will Hayes is playing in the VFL tomorrow, he played last week. Oleg Markov, these guys will come into contention. There's a little bit of depth there with guys who've had a little taste, and I'm sure they're hungry for another opportunity."