People First Stadium. Saturday, April 13. Mark that day in your books Hawthorn fans.
The club had suffered its fifth consecutive defeat to open season 2024, going down to Gold Coast in Queensland by 53 points.
Sitting 17th and wrestling with North Melbourne for the bottom spot, the Hawks looked all at sea and questions loomed over whether Sam Mitchell was the man for the job, despite only being in the hot seat for two years prior.
Fast-forward three months and a week. How wrong we'd all be.
Following a 66-point dismantling of 2023 premiers and fellow contenders Collingwood at the MCG on a wet and cold Saturday twilight fixture, Mitchell took a moment to reflect on when it all changed, flagging the nine-goal loss to the Suns as the catalyst for what the AFL world has witnessed.
"That was the moment when the players started to push each other and themselves," Mitchell said with pride.
"From a coaches' point of view, I don't think we've done a lot differently since then, but the players have understood the importance of the detail.
"I think the Sydney loss was a little bit similar. When we went away from things we've trained we knew we were going to be average at best. We talked after the game about who didn't get something right and got that feedback from a teammate and who celebrated something a teammate did, the detail we do, whether that's a spoil out of bounds or something else, we really appreciate the detail and the small things. The players have a great understanding of that."
Since that sliding doors moment against Gold Coast, the Hawks have packed on 10 wins from the next 14 rounds, including seven of their past eight outings.
Mitchell's men miraculously sit within touching distance of not only a spot in the finals, but a game off a top-four position.
And with a run home that consists of games against Adelaide, GWS, Carlton, Richmond and North Melbourne to come, a return to September for the first time since 2018 doesn't seem as ridiculous as it once did.
