Sam Mitchell looked at his players in Hawthorn's last team meeting of an extraordinary AFL season and saw the searing pain that he felt.

The Hawks coach encouraged them to have a group hug after they lost their semi-final to Port Adelaide by just three points - 11.9 (75) to 11.6 (72) - on Friday night at Adelaide Oval.

Setting aside the post-game confrontation between Port coach Ken Hinkley and the Hawthorn players, Mitchell was shattered in his media conference.

"We're as one ... I looked at all the faces, all the red eyes, and it was pain and disappointment and frustration and regret and pride and it's all staring straight back at me," Mitchell said.

"I'm sure it's what you see in my face right now. It's a brutal game.

"I guess disappointment, I'm just really sad this season is over. For it to be finished, it's not a strong enough word, disappointment.

"There's obviously some pride and that will come out over time. But right now I'm sad for the players, sad for the fans."

After starting the season with five losses, the Hawks soared to their first finals win since winning the 2015 premiership.

In their two years under Mitchell, they have developed an electrifying brand of football.

But now they have to deal with the pain of coming so close to a preliminary final against Sydney.

"Pain is a great motivator. Every training session - when you think about running through the line or finishing your extra rep in the gym, in all those things, there's a little bit of pain that burns into you," Mitchell said.

"I don't think we're good enough to feel like we can be complacent. We're going to have to make progress, it's not a natural linear progression.

"I've said all year, we're far from a finished product.

"The pain of what I saw looking back at me post-game is a part ... that will stay with them together."

For all his many achievements in football, Mitchell has endured plenty of disappointments. He, as much as anyone, knows there are no guarantees for next season.

"It's going to be an interesting next period for us," Mitchell said.

"But we're sixth. We're just in the top third of the ladder. That's where we're at.

"I think everyone, mostly, loved doing what we were doing and we're just not quite good enough. We have to live with that, it will spur us on for next year.

"The pain I felt and the pain I saw in their faces - it was just a mirror."

While Mitchell said Hawks fans should be proud of their team, he acknowledged they were not good enough against Port.

"We didn't control much of the game. They controlled a lot of the territory," he said.

"We weren't great in a few different areas, but we gave ourselves chances to win. We found a way against the odds for the majority of the game."

They had their chances in the last term, but Dylan Moore and James Sicily hit the post with their shots on goal.

"It's all the margins, isn't it," Mitchell said.