Tom Mitchell (Australian footballer)

Tom Mitchell (born 31 May 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Sydney Swans from 2012 to 2016 and currently holds the record for the most disposals in an AFL game, which he set against the Collingwood Football Club in 2018. Mitchell was acknowledged for his record-breaking 2018 season after polling 28 votes to win the prestigious Brownlow Medal.

Tom Mitchell
Mitchell playing for Hawthorn in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Tom Mitchell
Nickname(s) Titch
Date of birth (1993-05-31) 31 May 1993
Original team(s) Claremont (WAFL)
Draft No. 21 (F/S), 2011 national draft
Debut Round 10, 2013, Sydney
vs. Essendon, at Sydney Cricket Ground
Height 182 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Hawthorn
Number 3
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2012–2016 Sydney 065 (38)
2017– Hawthorn 049 (23)
Total 114 (61)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 3, 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Personal life

Mitchell's father, Barry, was drafted from Northvale JFC in Mulgrave, Victoria and won the Bob Skilton Medal in 1991. Barry played for Sydney, Carlton and Collingwood after also being drafted alongside Warwick Capper. Tom grew up in Melbourne's eastern suburbs and attended Carey Baptist Grammar School, before relocating to Perth at 15 where he completed his schooling at Hale School. Mitchell's younger sister, Chelsea, signed on to play for Hawthorn’s VFL Women’s side in 2018.[2]

AFL career

Sydney (2012–2016)

Mitchell was drafted to Sydney with pick 21 in the 2011 AFL draft under the father–son rule.[3] Mitchell was not able to make his senior debut in 2012, due mainly to a slew of injuries. Whilst he did show some strong form in his few games in the reserves, this wasn't enough for him to play in a very strong senior side that would ultimately go on to win a premiership.

Mitchell made his debut in round 10, 2013 against Essendon at the SCG. He received a 2013 AFL Rising Star nomination the following week for his round 11 performance against Adelaide.[4] During round 9 of the 2014 season, Mitchell played in the Swans reserves team and picked up a record 64 disposals (23 contested, 41 uncontested). He also kicked four goals in the same game.

At the conclusion of the 2016 season, Mitchell requested a trade from Sydney[5] and was subsequently traded to Hawthorn in October.[6]

Hawthorn (2017–present)

Up to and including round 8 of the 2017 season, Mitchell had accumulated more disposals than any other player in the competition. He broke the VFL/AFL record for the most disposals in a home and away season in round 22 when he amassed his 749th possession, surpassing Wayne Richardson's mark set in 1971.[7] Following a record-breaking home and away season, Mitchell was named in the All-Australian team for the first time in his career.[8] He was runner-up to Dustin Martin in the 2017 Brownlow Medal count (Patrick Dangerfield polled more votes, but was ineligible due to suspension).[9] Mitchell won his first Peter Crimmins Medal in that season.[10]

In round 1 of the 2018 season on March 24, Mitchell also broke the record for the most disposals in an VFL/AFL game by amassing a total of 54 possessions.[11] Additionally, he became the first player ever to have 50 or more disposals twice in their career. Mitchell accumulated another 50 touches in Hawthorn's round 15 loss to GWS and subsequently became the first player to have multiple 50+ disposal games in a season.[12] His 848 disposals in 2018 surpassed Matt Crouch's season record of 825, set almost 12 months earlier.[13]

After completing another record-breaking season, Mitchell won the 2018 Brownlow Medal. This award capped off a season where Mitchell was recognised for his efforts and ball-winning proficiency by also winning the Peter Crimmins Medal, Leigh Matthews Trophy[14] and the Lou Richards Medal along with other media awards as well. Mitchell became the first Hawthorn player to win the Leigh Matthews Trophy since Shane Crawford in 1999. On 11 January 2019, It was announced that Mitchell would miss the entire 2019 season after suffering a broken leg during a tackling drill at training.[15]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2019 season[16][17]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
VFL/AFL record
Led the league for the season only
Led the league after season and finals
Won
AFL playing statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2012 Sydney 60———————————————
2013 Sydney 614111713413627045660.20.39.18.417.52.84.22
2014 Sydney 6622576812525340.30.49.410.519.92.84.40
2015 Sydney 619107212303515701240.50.411.215.927.13.76.512
2016 Sydney 62615132824437251011600.60.510.817.027.93.96.212
2017 Hawthorn 32210103074807871171430.50.514.021.835.85.36.525
2018 Hawthorn 3241373894598481131520.50.316.219.135.34.76.328
2019 Hawthorn 30———————————————
Career 11161561381188932704716790.50.512.417.029.54.26.179

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References
  1. "Tom Mitchell". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  2. "A Mitchell family affair". Hawthorn Football Club. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  3. Cowley, Michael (11 October 2011). "In the name of the father: Mitchell to follow dad's footsteps at Swans". Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. "Mitchell in the running". Sydney Football Club. 3 September 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  5. Bowen, Nick (10 October 2016). "Star Swan Tom Mitchell requests trade to Hawks". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  6. Laughton, Max (14 October 2016). "Hawthorn acquires Sydney Swans midfielder Tom Mitchell". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  7. Meldrum, Ethan (19 August 2017). "Tom Mitchell Absolutely Smashes An All-Time Record". Triple M. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  8. "Mitchell an All Australian". Hawthorn Football Club. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  9. McGowan, Mark (26 September 2017). "Dusty's late surge seals record-breaking win". Australian Football League.
  10. "Mitchell wins first PCM". Hawthorn Football Club. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  11. Naghten, Tom (24 March 2018). "Tom Mitchell collects record 54 disposals as Hawthorn handle Collingwood". Sporting News Media. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  12. "Season and Game Records (1965-2018): Most Disposals In A Game". AFL Tables. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  13. "Season and Game Records (1965-2018): Most Disposals In A Season". AFL Tables. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  14. Staff Writers (30 August 2018). "Mitchell voted 2018 AFL Players' MVP". AFL Players. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  15. Laughton, Max (11 January 2019). "Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell likely to miss entire 2019 season with a broken leg". Fox Sports. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  16. "Tom Mitchell Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  17. "Tom Mitchell". afl.com.au. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
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