Sam Mitchell (footballer)

Sam Mitchell

Mitchell during the 2007 AFL Season
Personal information
Full name Samuel Mitchell
Date of birth (1982-10-12) 12 October 1982
Place of birth Mooroolbark, Victoria
Original team(s) Eastern Ranges (TAC Cup)
Draft 36th overall, 2001 National Draft, Hawthorn
Height/Weight 179 cm / 84 kg
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Hawthorn
Number 5
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2002–present Hawthorn 289 (67)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2008 Victoria (Australia) Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of Round 4, 2016 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2008.
Career highlights

Samuel "Sam" Mitchell (born 12 October 1982) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Career

A product of Mooroolbark, in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs, Michell played in the under 18 TAC Cup competition with the Eastern Ranges. He was the club's best and fairest player in 1999 and 2000.[1] Disappointed at being overlooked in the 2000 draft, Mitchell joined the Box Hill Hawks. After a couple of games in the development squad he gained promotion to the seniors and completed the season as the team's number one rover. He was a member of Box Hill's premiership side in 2001.

AFL career

Mitchell was recruited to the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL in the 2001 AFL draft with selection number 36. This selection was received by Hawthorn in the deal which saw Trent Croad and Luke McPharlin traded to Fremantle, whilst Hawthorn gained selections one (Luke Hodge), 20 (Daniel Elstone) and number 36 (Mitchell).[2]

Debut season

The first half of his debut season in 2002 saw him playing with the Box Hill Hawks, until he broke into the Hawthorn side midway through the season. Following some unimpressive performances where he never managed more than 14 disposals, he was dropped for Round 15 but was recalled after more eye-catching performances in Round 19. He polled 31 votes in just 11 games to win the VFL's best and fairest award, the J. J. Liston Trophy.[3]

2003–2007

In 2003 Mitchell continued to improve, winning the 2003 AFL Rising Star award and becoming known as "the Extractor" (particularly by commentator Brian Taylor) for his high amount of clearances and ability to win the ball out of middle of the ground.[4]

A solid season followed in 2004, and in 2005 he played a "super" season until a foot injury sidelined him in Round 15. For the 2006 season, Mitchell was named vice-captain of Hawthorn and displayed stellar form throughout the season culminating in winning the Peter Crimmins Medal for Hawthorn's best and fairest.

In 2007 he capped off another wonderful season by coming 3rd in the votes for the highest honour in Australian Football, the Brownlow Medal with 21 votes, 1 short of joint 2nd-place winners, North Melbourne's Brent Harvey and Brisbane's Simon Black who both polled 22 votes, and coming 8 votes behind winner of the 2007 Brownlow, Geelong's Jimmy Bartel.

On 6 October 2007, during the Peter Crimmins Medal Event, he was announced as Hawthorn's next captain, taking over the reins from retiring captain Richie Vandenberg.[5]

2008–2010 Club captain

Mitchell was ineligible for 2008's Brownlow Medal following a tripping charge in the match against Melbourne in round nine.

On Saturday, 27 September, Mitchell captained the Hawks to the 2008 premiership, the first in 17 years and the clubs 10th, beating the reigning premiers, Geelong, by 26 points. Mitchell was reported for rough conduct against Geelong's Gary Ablett, Jr. in the second quarter, however the report was dismissed at the conclusion of the weekend.

At the end of the 2010 season he handed the captaincy over to Luke Hodge, who was made captain of the 2010 All-Australian team.[6]

2011-present

Mitchell polled 30 votes in the 2011 Brownlow Medal, but was ineligible to win after an incident in Round 5 of the season; he had the second-most votes, behind Collingwood's Dane Swan. In 2012 Mitchell along with Richmond player Trent Cotchin both finished tied for second place in the Brownlow to Jobe Watson. On January 12, 2016 the World Anti-Doping Agency found Jobe Watson and another 16 Essendon players guilty of taking an illegal substance during the 2012 AFL season. The implications for this on the 2012 Brownlow medal are unclear.

Mitchell has won the Peter Crimmins Medal four times, in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2012, the most of any current Hawthorn player.

Mitchell is often cited as one of the most ambidextrous player in the AFL and much opinion is made about which is his preferred foot. Although some have claimed that he was originally a left footer who switched to right foot later in his junior career, Mitchell has stated that he has just always tried to use the appropriate foot for the situation. He does however switch to his left foot when he wants to kick longer.[7] Similarly, his handpassing is equally good with either hand.

Another of Mitchell's superior abilities is his ability to change direction quickly. He has himself joked about his short legs and lack of leg speed, however his ability to side-step through congestion and confuse the opposition is considered amongst the best in the competition. This, paired with the opposition not being able to predict which foot or hand he will pass with makes him a difficult player to corral.

Kneeing controversy

On 13 July 2015, Mitchell was found guilty by the AFL's match review panel of having kneed the right thigh of Fremantle Dockers player Nathan Fyfe during the second quarter of the previous day's game and was fined $1000 for the offence. The media then brought to light other kneeing incidents involving Mitchell, those being the kneeing of Adelaide Crows captain Taylor Walker in the round 12 game and the kneeing of Greater Western Sydney's Ryan Griffen in round 6 of the 2015 season.[8][9] Another kneeing video incident surfaced of Mitchell kneeing North Melbourne defender Scott Thompson. The video shows Mitchell walking up to an unsuspecting Thompson and kneeing him in the left thigh.[10] Media reports from 2008 show that an opposition club, Brisbane expressed concerns to the AFL about Sam Mitchell's kneeing of opponents.[11]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2014 season [12]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2002 Hawthorn 28 9 1 1 53 48 101 19 29 0.1 0.1 5.9 5.3 11.2 2.1 3.2
2003 Hawthorn 28 21 5 2 199 174 373 54 89 0.2 0.1 9.5 8.3 17.8 2.6 4.2
2004 Hawthorn 5 20 5 5 210 162 372 47 60 0.3 0.3 10.5 8.1 18.6 2.4 3.0
2005 Hawthorn 5 14 2 4 186 157 343 62 49 0.1 0.3 13.3 11.2 24.5 4.4 3.5
2006 Hawthorn 5 22 3 6 327 265 592 119 71 0.1 0.3 14.9 12.0 26.9 5.4 3.2
2007 Hawthorn 5 23 2 3 262 331 593 120 96 0.1 0.1 11.4 14.4 25.8 5.2 4.2
2008 Hawthorn 5 24 4 2 313 354 667 90 88 0.2 0.1 13.0 14.8 27.8 3.8 3.7
2009 Hawthorn 5 22 7 3 346 308 654 111 66 0.3 0.1 15.7 14.0 29.7 5.0 3.0
2010 Hawthorn 5 19 5 4 282 242 524 76 90 0.3 0.2 14.8 12.7 27.6 4.0 4.7
2011 Hawthorn 5 23 12 8 404 297 701 94 99 0.5 0.3 17.6 12.9 30.5 4.1 4.3
2012 Hawthorn 5 24 7 7 345 308 653 84 133 0.3 0.3 14.4 12.8 27.2 3.5 5.5
2013 Hawthorn 5 24 5 5 371 302 673 83 78 0.2 0.2 15.5 12.6 28.0 3.5 3.3
2014 Hawthorn 5 16 3 3 228 221 449 78 55 0.2 0.2 14.3 13.8 28.1 4.9 3.4
Career 261 61 53 3526 3169 6695 1037 1003 0.2 0.2 13.5 12.1 25.7 4.0 3.8

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
2002 1
2003 9
2004 2
2005 9
2006 13
2007 21
2008 15
2009 13
2010 15
2011 30
2012 26
2013 16
2014 8
2015 26
Total 204
Key:
Green / Bold = Won
* = joint winner
Red / Italics = Ineligible

Team

Individual

Mitchell has polled a total of 204 Brownlow Medal votes in his career, the most of any player who has not won the award.[13]

Personal life

Mitchell married Lyndall Degenhardt in early November 2009. They have a son born in 2010 and twin daughters born in 2011.[14]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-3020-0-0-0&sID=107191
  2. ↑ McFarlane, Glenn (25 September 2013). "It was the trade that made Hawthorn and Fremantle the teams they are today". Herald Sun.
  3. ↑ Oldham, Gordon (17 September 2002). "Box Hill midfielder wins Liston Medal".
  4. ↑ Brereton, Dermott (6 September 2003). "Mitchell, the Extractor, pulling out all the stops".
  5. ↑ Mitchell to captain Hawks
  6. ↑ Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge will ask Sam Mitchell for leadership advice
  7. ↑ Baldwin, Adam (11 June 2015). "Sam Mitchell uses his non-preferred foot more than any other AFL footballer". Fox Sports.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Mark (13 July 2015). "Mitchell: Not my intention to hurt Fyfe". Herald Sun.
  9. ↑ Beveridge, Riley (15 July 2015). "VIDEO: Sam Mitchell knees Ryan Griffen off the ball in third incident, revealed on Fox Footy’s AFL 360". Fox Sports.
  10. ↑ "Sneaky Sam throws out a knee". 4 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Sheahan, Mike (1 May 2008). "Hawks under 'corking' scrutiny". Herald Sun.
  12. ↑ Sam Mitchell's player profile at AFL Tables
  13. ↑ "Brownlow Medal Career Totals". Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  14. ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/docs-hadnt-seen-baby-so-sick/story-fn6bfkm6-1226050759282

External links

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