Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell keeps lid on 'showbiz' hype

Sam Mitchell admits he’s finding it more of a challenge to keep his ‘Showbiz Hawks’ grounded but is confident they will remain focused as the AFL finals race nears its climax.

Hawthorn (10-8, 11th) are just about the hottest team in the league, having won seven of their last eight games to surge into finals contention.

They’ve stamped their credentials over the past fortnight with a gritty win over top-four side Fremantle and a thrashing of reigning premiers Collingwood.

It has turned the external hype-o-meter up to “fever pitch”, in Mitchell’s words, but the third-year coach’s eyes are firmly fixed on the task at hand.

In-form Adelaide have won three of their four games since the bye and pose a significant threat to the Hawks’ top-eight hopes at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

“We talk about making sure that we’re very focused on the things that matter,” Mitchell said on Friday.

“There’s a lot of outside noise, and more about us this week than usual, obviously.

“But we’ve been really focused for my whole time coaching that for 36-48 hours you get to feel good or bad about your game and then after that you shouldn’t know whether you’ve won or lost.

“It’s more of a challenge this week than others and I feel like the players have handled it well but only time will tell.

“It’s very difficult to get a read before the game on how we’re going to perform but I feel like everything’s gone to plan so far.”

Hawthorn marked out the dimensions of Adelaide Oval for their main training session of the week at Waverley Park on Friday, after mixed form at the venue this season.

In round four, the Hawks fought back from 38 points down but fell one kick short in a five-point loss to Collingwood.

Six weeks later, they coughed up a 41-point lead and conceded two goals in a heart-breaking final minute in a one-point defeat to Port Adelaide.

“We feel like we’ve played well there but we obviously haven’t won,” Mitchell said.

“If you look at Adelaide, what they’ve been able to do is score really quickly in periods of games.

“We know that we’re going to have to be able to play a full four quarters against a quality side on their home deck.

“The consistency of how we play at this oval in particular is going to be important.”

Blake Hardwick has been somewhat of an Adelaide Oval specialist this season and looms as a forward-line wildcard for Mitchell against the Crows.

The part-time Hawks swingman has kicked nine of his 13 goals for the season during his two appearances at the South Australian venue.

The hauls of four against Collingwood and five against Port Adelaide both marked new career-best figures for Hardwick, who has not kicked more than two majors in any of his other 163 AFL games.

“There’s a chance he goes forward and he’s certainly brought that up with me a couple of times this week,” Mitchell said.

“But I’m not going to give you too much insight into that just yet.”

Hawthorn captain James Sicily will play his 150th game in the clash with Adelaide, a milestone Mitchell hopes to mark with another important victory.