“I loved my time at Hawthorn. You can be sour as much as you like,but without that happening;I wouldn’t have the amazing opportunity I have now at Collingwood,” Mitchell toldThe Age.
“I would have loved to stay a Hawthorn player for all of my career,but I felt as though they were heading in a new direction;therefore,I was keen to explore other opportunities. I understood the bigger picture of what they were trying to do.
Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara joined Hawthorn and left at the same time.Credit:Getty Images
“I had an awesome six years there. ‘Clarko’ brought me in,and at the time,it was a change I needed – to leave the Swans for more opportunity. Clarko was able to get my best footy out of me,and I look back with only positive memories;there are no hard feelings at all.”
The attraction in joining Hawthorn seven years ago was that they were perennial contenders under Clarkson,and while that did not continue in his time there,Mitchell has no regrets about the choice he made. He insists he enjoyed imparting wisdom on developing midfielders,including Jai Newcombe,Dylan Moore and Conor Nash,as Jude Bolton once did for him early in his career at Sydney.
Mitchell has made a strong start to his career in the black and white.Credit:Getty Images
The decision to offload a series of high draft picks to bring in Mitchell and O’Meara,then later Chad Wingard,rather than begin a rebuild,looks the wrong move in hindsight. But Mitchell said it was unfair to place the blame on him and O’Meara.
“Having success is not purely down to two players,” Mitchell said. “It takes 44 players,and 22 on game day,to get results,so we were just a small part of the group. The fans were great to us,and we left no stone unturned and gave everything we had for the club. Everyone who knows the both of us;knows that’s our character – we worked really hard,and did the best we could.”
But if Mitchell was expendable to Hawthorn’s longer-term plans,he is proving a highly influential addition for the Pies,even if it is a small sample size so far.
The ultra-genial McRae,plus Collingwood football boss and ex-Hawks list manager Graham Wright,who pitched to Mitchell during the bye before finals last year,had a simple request for him:“Play to your strengths.”
The Magpies placed 13th last year for clearances,16th for clearance differential,and 17th for contested possession differential. In the opening two rounds of this season they are ranked first and second,respectively,in differential for contested possession and clearances.
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Collingwood had 57 more contested possessions than Port Adelaide in their 71-point victory last Saturday,the seventh-biggest differential in any game since 2000.
Giving Mitchell all the credit would be too much,but it is hardly a coincidence. He is averaging 24 disposals – modest by his standards – but also 15 contested possessions,nine clearances and seven score involvements. Mitchell’s 60 per cent contested possession rate is the highest of his career.
All this despite ex-Magpies coach Nathan Buckley suggesting on season’s eve that Mitchell arguably might not be in the club’s best 22 when everyone was fit. Buckley also famously questioned Mitchell’s impact in an extraordinary 50-disposal outing in 2017.
“[The improvement] is something the whole group should be proud of – no individual effort gets a result like that,” Mitchell said.
“The result against Port Adelaide at the weekend was unbelievable. We addressed it as a group,that we wanted to improve ... it’s good to get some early-season reward.”
The prospect of playing alongside,and complementing,Jordan De Goey,Scott Pendlebury,Steele Sidebottom,the Daicos brothers – Josh and Nick– Jack Crisp and Taylor Adams was a major part of the Magpies’ appeal.
As was the chance to play finals again. This time,Mitchell appears to have chosen wisely.
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“I want to be remembered as someone who had great relationships with every player and coach in the organisation,but also someone who gave it absolutely everything,” he said.
“We’re striving for the ultimate success this year,and it’s great to be in a team that’s winning. When you look at players in teams that are losing;sometimes it may not matter if they’re playing well.
“Ultimately,we’re in a business assessed by wins and losses.”
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