Hawks to 'sit in anger' after prelim final heartbreak

Sam Mitchell will sit in the anger stage of grieving for Hawthorn's 2026 premiership tilt for a while, then turn his focus to taking the Hawks to the summit next year.

For a second-straight year, Mitchell and his Hawks suffered the gut-wrenching pain of preliminary final defeat, losing 20.11 (131) to 19.8 (122) to Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday night.

Mitchell opened his press conference with what he had told the players after the brutal loss.

"If you want to strive for great things, you will open yourself up for all sorts of emotion, the greatest of joy, and the deepest of pain," the emotional head coach said.

The game slipped from Hawthorn's grasp when a contentious holding-the-ball decision against defender Jarman Impey gave Hugh McCluggage a free kick and the Lion kicked the match-deciding goal with 18 seconds left.

The fiercely competitive mentor believed the performance had showed the football world Hawthorn could be considered a "legitimate" team.

But it was too early for Mitchell, who conceded this was the angriest he had been after a game, to consider how his players could reflect.

"I think we're in a mourning phase, I don't know, what's the first part, is it anger? I think I'm still half in anger, probably sense it in my body language," he said.

"What else, what's after anger? I don't know, last is acceptance and - I nearly said a bad word - I'm a long way from acceptance right now, so I'll sit in anger for a bit longer. I'm sure all the players will too."

Mitchell insisted plenty needed to go right for Hawthorn to reach an elusive grand final.

The Hawks won't take long to turn their focus to improving their list.

Gold Coast spearhead Ben King is on the way as a free agent while the Hawks are determined not to miss out on contracted Essendon star Zach Merrett for a second-straight year.

Mitchell wouldn't be drawn on Merrett in particular but made it clear Hawthorn wouldn't be standing still.

"Between now and round one, our job is to improve our organisation as much as we can," Mitchell said.