Clarkson defends Mitchell's AFL feat

Tom Mitchell has divided opinion with his entry into the AFL's exclusive 50-disposal club.

The Hawthorn midfielder became only the seventh AFL player, and the first at his new club, to reach the milestone during Saturday night's loss to Collingwood.

Greg Williams (Sydney) and Gary Ablett (Gold Coast) share the record with 53.

But Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley chose not to put a heavy tag on Mitchell.

"If I said he wasn't hurting us a lot, would that make sense?," Buckley said.

He explained that if Mitchell's teammate Isaac Smith had racked up 50, it would have been a nightmare for Collingwood.

"You'd have 2500m gained," Buckley said.

"He was getting the ball at contests and that was great, but, on the balance of it, our midfield was getting on top and working them over."

Mitchell had 336m gained, while Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury had 685m gained from his 36 possessions.

But Buckley's assessment drew a sharp response from Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson, who noted his team led by 34 points at halftime.

"It's pretty ballsy to say he wasn't having an influence at that point in time, because I think he was," Clarkson said.

Clarkson was philosophical about the loss, saying his team went away slightly from how they played in the first half.

Steadily, Collingwood's broader spread of midfielders had an effect.

The Hawthorn coach refused to use their six forced changes as an excuse, saying no-one would have been talking about them at halftime.

Saturday night continued Hawthorn's 2017 trend of poor second halves, a problem that is stumping Clarkson.

"If anyone knew the answer to (their poor second halves), they'd be sitting where I am," Clarkson said.

"It's not easy sometimes in this caper.

"It was moving ever-so-slightly away from what we were doing well in the first half and that fuelled a lot of their play."