Coaches must be told of drug cases: Hawthorn's Mitchell

Coaches should be among the first to know drug-test results, Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell (centre) says. (Gary Day/AAP PHOTOS)

AFL coaches must be told of any player failing a drug test, Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell says, as premiership captain Max Gawn called for harsher penalties for a first offence.

As the fallout continues over revelations of a secret drug-testing regime in the AFL, Melbourne's Gawn said the deterrent for a first-strike positive test is diminishing.