Hawthorn has completed a successful intraclub hit-out despite wet conditions at Waverley Park, with Tom Mitchell firing in his first public match play in over 12 months.
Mitchell proved he hasn’t lost his knack for hunting the football, amassing 21 disposals in three quarters of football – including six inside a minute.
“I thought Tom went really well,” said GM-Football Graham Wright.
“He found the ball, which we know he does.
“He was involved in a lot of tackling and general contested situations, which he needs to get more and more of, and games are the best way to do that.
“He played two quarters in the ‘possibles’ and one in the ‘probables’, and I thought it was a solid performance.”
Indeed, the Hawks were separated into two teams labelled the ‘possibles’ and ‘probables’, but GM-Football Graham Wright says the sides were no indication of what the Hawks’ Round 1 line-up may look like.
“It was a more experienced group against a younger group, though the young group did have a few experienced guys like Tom, Michael Hartley and Andy Otten (Box Hill).
“I guess the guys in the ‘probables’ team were the ones who had performed best over the summer to this stage, so we wanted to get them playing together and see how they went.”
While there was plenty to digest in the intraclub hit-out, here are a couple of key takeaways; Chad Wingard was eye-catching in the first half while running through the midfield. James Sicily played his usual impenetrable defensive game. Jonathon Patton booted three goals three in his new colours. Tom Scully caused damage with his foot speed. Mitch Lewis was strong overhead and booted two goals in the second half.
“Overrall, the game was a good standard,” Wright reflected.
“I thought Isaac Smith, Jon Ceglar, Jon Patton all played well.
“James Sicily, James Worpel, Harry Morrison and Sam Frost did some really nice things. Shaun Burgoyne keeps on keeping on.
“I thought overall we got a lot out of it for a lot of our players.”
Jacob Koschitzke was the hard luck story of the night, with the young forward leaving the ground early in the third term with a shoulder injury. An update will be provided following the results of scans.
