Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley accepts Hawthorn midfielder Tom Mitchell was the best player on the MCG last Saturday night, but said it wasn't the reason the Hawks won the game.
Mitchell amassed an AFL record 54 touches in Hawthorn's win, which was the second time in his career he had collected over 50 disposals, with both matches coming against the Pies.
Buckley admitted Mitchell was impressive, but said he would gladly let it happen again providing the Pies take their opportunities going forward.
โHe was best on ground, letโs be clear, but it has been overblown about how significant his performance was in the result because there were so many things we were in control of that we didnโt get done, that didnโt get the result,โ Buckley told SENโs Whateley on Wednesday morning.
โIn the last quarter, Tom Mitchell had 17 touches but we went inside 50 19 times to 9.
โIf you extrapolate that out, Tom Mitchell has 76 touches and we have 80 inside 50โs to 40. I would take that.
โLetโs not get caught up in how many touches a bloke gets.โ
Buckley said the Magpies did in fact send a player to tag Mitchell out of the game in the second quarter, but because the job was done poorly, they decided to give up on the idea.
โWe sent a player to him in the last 10 minutes of the second quarter and it didnโt happen and didnโt get done,โ Buckley said.
โThe diligence to perform that role wasnโt up to standard."
Collingwood will be hoping to bounce back in a big way on Saturday, when they host GWS at the MCG.
