HAWTHORN forward Mark Williams has contacted most of the Port Adelaide team to apologise for his choking interpretation, Power captain Warren Tredrea revealed yesterday.

The incident in the last few minutes of Saturday's game at Aurora Stadium — where the Hawk held his neck with his arm raised — was seen as a slur on Port for having surrendered a 38-point lead to lose by 15.

It angered Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, who asked Williams to telephone his namesake, Port coach Mark Williams. But he went further, issuing an unreserved apology to as many Port players as he could contact.

Tredrea said there was no longer ill feeling and thought the matter should be closed. "Guys who know him (in the team) personally told him they thought it wasn't appropriate, but it's done now, move on," Tredrea said.

"Yeah, we had a lead and we lost the match but I wouldn't have thought it was a form of choke.

"We played a pretty good team. I dare say he's probably sitting there regretting it, considering he's tried to call half of my teammates to apologise … I don't really know what he was thinking about when he did it."

Hawks' captain Sam Mitchell said yesterday that his teammate was "shattered" by his last quarter "brain explosion".

"He was very disappointed with himself straight after the game," Mitchell said.

While he did not expect to see a repeat of such post-goal antics from any of his teammates in the future, Mitchell said he thought there was still a place for "positive" celebrations among the side.

"I think there's a time and a place for most things (but) I think it depends where it's aimed … it's got to be aimed in a positive light, not a negative," Mitchell said.

There seemed some irony that Tredrea answered Williams' on-field gesture as it was the skipper who was guilty of an unsportsmanlike incident against North Melbourne in a preliminary final last year at AAMI Stadium.

"You do those things and you get questioned," Tredrea said. "Preliminary final last year I bowed to the crowd, because we had a big crowd and we were going into a grand final — it wasn't an offensive act, and that seemed to get air time, so it doesn't surprise me someone's trying to dig up the past."