Hawthorn players James Sicily, Tom Barrass and Jack Ginnivan had angry words with the umpires, who then had bottles thrown at them from Hawks fans as they left the MCG on Saturday night.
Ruckman Lloyd Meek swore as he spoke to reporters in the rooms. Coach Sam Mitchell impressively kept his emotions in check throughout a fraught post-game media conference, where he spoke of mourning.
"This feeling is the pits," Mitchell said.
At the heart of Hawthorn's collective rage was the holding-the-ball free paid against Jarman Impey in the last minute of an epic preliminary final. It was the most controversial of a succession of contentious umpiring calls through the game.
Brisbane's Hugh McCluggage then kicked the match-winning goal - the ninth lead-change of the game and the fourth in the last few frenetic minutes.
Mitchell said he did not know about Sicily, Barrass and Ginnivan going to the umpires, but he was aware of the bottles being thrown onto the ground.
"At the end of the game, part of me wanted to break down in tears, part of me wanted to scream with rage, part of me wanted to throw chairs, you don't know how to react," he said.
"So when you're in the stand, you need to continue to be feeling that emotion, because that's why we love it, but how it manifests itself - we shouldn't be throwing things on the field and doing those types of things.
"But the passion in the stand and the passion of the game is why we love it so much. So I hope that for the vast majority it was felt responsibly."
Meek was near Impey when the free was paid.
"It's heartbreaking ... excuse the profanity, you can edit that one out. We pour our heart and soul into this," Meek said.
"I was standing right next to him - I will be replaying that one for a while.
"I just feel like I probably could have jumped on and knocked the ball out or done a 'stacks-on' - something ... it's hard, in the dying moments."
Mitchell spoke of grief and added it was too soon to think beyond what had just happened.
"I think we're in a mourning phase. What's the first part, is it anger? I think I'm still half in anger, probably sense it in my body language," he said.
"What else, what's after anger? I don't know, last is acceptance and  - I nearly said a bad word - I'm a long way from acceptance right now.
"I will sit in anger for a bit longer, I'm sure all the players will too."
Before they left the MCG for the last time this season, Mitchell brought his players into a tight group.
"It was just 'remember this'. There's nothing more raw than that five minutes straight after the siren, when it hurts the most," Meek said of Mitchell's message.
"Remember the burn and the outrage and how frustrating it is - because that will be our fuel. We have a big pre-season ahead."
Mitchell spoke of his great pride in the Hawks, who staged an outstanding comeback in the final quarter.
But in the end, it came to nothing.
"If you want to strive for great things, you will open yourself up for all sorts of emotion, the greatest of joy, and the deepest of pain," he said.
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