Seeking a response to a disappointing opening round loss to GWS, and with the new five-man interchange making two ruckmen a viable option, Mitchell called upon Reeves ahead of an additional runner.
It paid dividends, with Meek (26 hitouts, five clearances) and Reeves (17 hitouts) working over Essendon's Lachlan Blakiston and giving Hawthorn's midfield first use on Friday night.
Reeves, limited to just five games across 2024 and 2025, also pushed forward for two crucial goals in the 21.19 (145) to 13.5 (83) victory at the MCG.
"We haven't used the double rucks for quite a long time and obviously there's a little bit of risk," Mitchell said.
"But Ned has been a really high performer - even though he hasn't played a lot of AFL footy in the last 18 months - where he's been playing.
"And he's worked on his craft, he's improved his footy and I was really happy for him - and from a selfish point of view, I was really happy for us because he was a really strong performer tonight, and certainly we'll be sticking with the two rucks."
Meek was a powerhouse as a solo ruck for Hawthorn in 2024 and 2025 but Mitchell indicated he had been down.
"We had a really good chat this week about how we could get his energy and vibrancy back into his game, his follow-up and his tackling and his pressure's a big part of his game," Mitchell said.
"His influence in and around the ball and in the contest, I thought was at a much bigger step than it has been and that's when he's played his best footy.Â
"I thought both rucks being able to keep energy on the ball, being able to keep pressure in those contested situations, that was important for us. It's what we couldn't produce often enough last week."
The Hawks will look to back up with a tight turnaround to hosting Sydney on Thursday night.
28°C