The loss, which came after Aspley booted the winning goal on the siren at the Hornet’s home ground of Graham Road Reserve, was a frustrating loss for the Swans, who led by as much as 32 points in the third term.
Mitchell, who was named best afield for his 30 disposals, 11 clearances, 10 tackles and one goal against the Hornets, could not hide his disappointment when he spoke to SwansTV after the match.
“You know, it doesn’t really mean a lot (to win individual awards),” Mitchell said.
“The main thing would have been just to win the game, that’s all we wanted to do.
“The individual accolades don’t make you feel any better than how I’m feeling now.
“It would have been great to win, and that’s the main thing.
“We gave it everything, fought hard all day, and it was just really unfortunate that in the last seconds of the game that we couldn’t quite get there in the end.”
The 21-year-old rued missed chances in the final term, which saw the home side boot five straight goals before the Swans put their first goal on the board.
Mitchell acknowledged the importance of maintaining momentum and said he and his team mates would learn from Saturday’s disappointing loss.
“There was a slight breeze coming towards the change room end, but we do need to be able to shut those momentum swings down when we’re under the pump and be able to absorb the pressure,” he said.
“We’ll learn from that and it will make us better players in the future, but it’s still very disappointing, but we will just have to improve from it.”
Saturday’s match also marked the final game veteran Ryan O’Keefe would play in the red and white, with the 33-year finishing the match with 29 touches, seven inside 50s, five clearances and one goal.
Mitchell said it was an honour to play alongside the dual premiership player this season, and said the team was disappointed not be able to get over the line for O’Keefe on Saturday.
“I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we look up to a guy like Ryan,” he said.
“What he’s done for this club, he’s just an absolute legend.
“The way he’s handled himself this year - it’s been a tough year for him, but he’s been positive and he’s looked after all of us young boys and has taught us a lot.
“We would have loved to get over the line and send him off with a premiership medal, but we couldn’t quite do that for him today.
“I’m sure he was still proud of all the boys’ efforts even though we couldn’t quite get there.”
Mitchell also thanked reserves coach Jared Crouch for his efforts this season.
“It’s never good to lose a Grand Final and it just shows how much this club means to a lot of people,” he said.
“Us younger guys can hopefully learn as much as we can from Crouchy, who has done so much for this club.
“We can carry (these experiences) with us and take them into the future.”
