Sam Mitchell - No Passengers Player Critique

SAM MITCHELL
Take a 25 year old who is at the peak of his career playing in the midfield of one of the heavyweights of the competition, and you get S.Mitchell.

It is amazing as to how far this boy has come.
Carrying a few extra pounds before he got drafted and being bagged by the critics for his slow pace, Hawthorn still took a punt on him and picked him up as a potential midfielder due to his amazing ability in and amongst the packs and at the stoppages.

What a pick they found.

Last year, Sammy averaged 4.2 tackles a game and 5.3 marks a game, which is pretty damn good for a Dream Team player when you add it onto their ball getting ability.

FUNNY STAT
S.Mitchell has averaged 25.7 possessions a game over his past 3 seasons and believe it or not, but he is actually averaging that exact same number this year, 25.7 possessions a game.
In saying this, i think we can automatically mark Sammy down for at least 25 touches a game, on average.

Where does his consistency come from, you may ask?
Well, with 25 touches, even if they are ALL handballs, gives him 50 points.
Add on his usual 5 marks a game and that gives him 65 points.
Then add on his 4 or so tackles and that gives him 81 points.
That, right there, is how he becomes so consistent.

Overall, i can not see S.Mitchell averaging anything lower than 88-90 this year.
That would be the WORST case scenario.
I would lock him down for an average from anywhere between 90-100 and at the price he is going to be at in 2-3 weeks time, he will be too hard to resist.

Also, Hawthorn are currently the third highest Dream Team scoring club, trailing Western Bulldogs and Geelong.
These teams are hard running, possession controlling teams which is the perfect style for a Dream Team coach.

54Dogs noticed this originally but S.Mitchell priced at under $360,000 is a "must have" in anyones eyes.
Look at him in 2 weeks time.
Keep it hush though.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

Im going to trade jones for mitchell in a few weeks

Mitchell is a proven gun, and always averages well
2007: Averaged 94
2006: 95
2005: 87

His first 3 games
R1- 115 - This is the usual Mitchell that we can come to expect, getting alot in the middle. Perhaps no hodge, lewis, or crawf helped him out
R2- 82- Watched the game vs Freo, and he looked like he was tagged by Josh carr, and tried going on and off to shake the tag. Still a very good effort.
R3- 42- This will be known as the Brady Rawlings effect. It happens to even the elite midfielders, and this score shouldn't cause too much concern, unless he gets another tag, which is unlikely

His Next 3 Games (average over last 3 games)
Brisbane: Averages 99- Should get a 90 here as well. Black will go to Hodge, whilst the others may go to crawf and lewis, leaving mitchell to roam around.

Richmond: Averages 88- In previous times he has dominated against the tigers, and his averaged is lowered by his 2003 stats. With Richmond quite willingly refusing to tag, and with the amount of DT points conceeded against them, you would think this would be a 100+ game for mitchell


Collingwood:averages 91: This should be a fairly good game for Mitchell. Set to be a free running game, which doesn't concern Mitchell, he does well in both scrappy, and free flowing games. Could be on for a high 80 here against the over-possessive pies.



Pros:

• Will not get the number one tag, but still may get a tag.Hodge, Lewis, Crawford, are all ahead of him in getting the tag
• With the sucess of the hawks, he is sure to get plenty
• Is one of the leaders down at hawk land, and a proven gun
• At such a low price

Cons

• If he does get tagged, he may struggle, as was shown against kangaroos
• Handballs way to much
• May get points taken off him, with Hodge, Craw, Lewis, and dew to a lesser extent
• Plenty of new ball winners in the hawks like Young, Bateman, Guerra may limit his output

Final Verdict, Hit or Miss

HIT - At his price, he is a bargain, and can easilly beat last years average of 90 odd

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

There are a huge number of midfielders to choose from who average 90+ and will be keepers for the year.

Mitchell differentiates himself from the pack in one way. Value for money.

People who say "I must have X player or Y player no matter what the cost" have no idea about DT. Would you pay 650K for Bartell or Cox? Absolutely not. Everyone has a value price and it just so happens that Mitchell will be well below his in a couple of weeks. Will he average 100. Probably not. Will he average between 90 and 100. Almost certainly. Is he a full year keeper. Absolutely. Not your number 1 or 2 Mid but certainly a player you can rely on for solid scores.

He is playing in a good team with numerous mids which share the ball around a lot so his numbers will remain high. Whilst he receives plenty of attention from other teams this will be no more than last season and may even be reduced if Lewis goes to the next level this year.

I see him as an excellent value choice in 2 weeks time, potentially the best available depending on what the next 2 weeks throw up.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

Ill be closely monitoring his progress over the next 2 weeks. I'm almost hoping he is rested from this weeks game against Brisbane at the Gabba. Firstly because he averages 15 points more than his usual average against the Lions, and secondly it gives Houli and Dyson, or even Stevens and Jones more time to appreciate in price, and hence makes it easier for me to pick up Mitchell.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

banana_bus said:

Ill be closely monitoring his progress over the next 2 weeks. Im almost hoping he is rested from this weeks game against Brisbane at the Gabba. Firstly because he averages 15 points more than his usual average against the Lions, and secondly it gives Houli and Dyson, or even Stevens and Jones more time to appreciate in price, and hence makes it easier for me to pick up Mitchell.

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same, im just a little bit worried for a couple of reasons:

1. With the hawks game plan of pushing numbers back and then running in waves forward, and due to his lack of pace, will this mean he will not be one of the link players going into attack given the amount of other players who can do this?

2. Due to the high number of players who can win large amounts of ball at the hawks, will he find less of it?

i know previously he has not found either of these a problem but this year the hawks have gone up a notch in both quality of players and gameplan, i will be watching closely to see how he finds it this weekend to see if he will be a good pick up in two weeks

i am also interested on whether people here think point one is valid or if it will not really affect his scoring output

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

happy_eagle said:

Pros:

• Is one of the leaders down at hawk land, and a proven gun

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He's Captain!!!!

Agree Mitchell's going to be very hard to resist in a couple of weeks (along with Kornes), but what about Clinton Young as a potential new GUN?? Currently under $390k with scores this season of 137, 96, 81 & 115 (Avg 107.3)

2005 = 7 games = 44 Avg
2006 = 14 games = 61 Avg
2007 = 23 games = 85.6 Avg

I looked at Clinton very closely before the season but couldn't fit him into my starting team due to my structure (Stevens & Cross my only starting mids over $250k). He ticks all the boxes... 22 years old this year in his 4th season of firsts, never gets tagged, lots of uncontested possessions and stacks of marks (averages 6.6 over his career, but has had between 8 - 15 marks in all four 2008 games), great kick (v high effectiveness and high kick:HB ratio), tackles, is starting to kick more goals, has a great attitude... Think he could well average 100+ by the end of the year and be in the top 6-8 mids.

If you were looking for a mid THIS week, I'd say Young or Hayes.

PS. Sorry if this is in the wrong place. It just came up. Feel free to put elsewhere.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

Mr Hard Ball Get said:

same, im just a little bit worried for a couple of reasons:

1. With the hawks game plan of pushing numbers back and then running in waves forward, and due to his lack of pace, will this mean he will not be one of the link players going into attack given the amount of other players who can do this?

2. Due to the high number of players who can win large amounts of ball at the hawks, will he find less of it?

i know previously he has not found either of these a problem but this year the hawks have gone up a notch in both quality of players and gameplan, i will be watching closely to see how he finds it this weekend to see if he will be a good pick up in two weeks

i am also interested on whether people here think point one is valid or if it will not really affect his scoring output

Click to expand...

Not dramatically I would imagine HBG. Mitchell picks up a lot of his touches and tackles around the stoppages and when the game is in flow he basically moves around the centre square. Because of his lack of pace, the Hawks use him as a link man to get the ball into the corridor where he dishes off to another runner. He also clogs up the corridor when the opposition have the ball which is where he can also pick up tackles. This was his role last year which should continue without much change.

He will push forward and back on occasions but mainly to get to clearance situations.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

i agree he will be a value pick in a couple of weeks but for i just don't think i can fit him into my side. Ideally i want Bartel, Corey, Swan and Kornes and i already have Cross and Stanton so i see no ways of fitting him in. Also the players i just mentioned except for Stanton are all better captaincy options than mitchell which is another reason why i just don't see him fitting into my side.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

Jolldo87 said:

i agree he will be a value pick in a couple of weeks but for i just don't think i can fit him into my side. Ideally i want Bartel, Corey, Swan and Kornes and i already have Cross and Stanton so i see no ways of fitting him in. Also the players i just mentioned except for Stanton are all better captaincy options than mitchell which is another reason why i just don't see him fitting into my side.

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In an ideal world we will all have these players. But realistically, to get all 4 of these players in your team is complete and utter negligence to the rest of your squad.

To obtain all 4 of these players, you will need to use at a bare minimum 8 trades. Realistically it would probably require 10 trades. Players like Mitchell, who come down to 350k, need to be considered. They will average 10-15 points less than the big 4, but are solid contributors and less likely to impede the progress of the rest of your squad.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

banana_bus said:

In an ideal world we will all have these players. But realistically, to get all 4 of these players in your team is complete and utter negligence to the rest of your squad.

To obtain all 4 of these players, you will need to use at a bare minimum 8 trades. Realistically it would probably require 10 trades. Players like Mitchell, who come down to 350k, need to be considered. They will average 10-15 points less than the big 4, but are solid contributors and less likely to impede the progress of the rest of your squad.

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I think if you have started with none of these then 2 is potentially the most you could hope for given they tend to hover 450+ and rarely drop below 420K. If you have 4 other mids averaging 90-100 that is still a very solid midfield that will lose very little and allows upgrades accross the board.

Re: Player Summary 4: S.Mitchell

^^Well said.

Obviously the dream is that Bartel has 2 shockers in the next 2 weeks and comes down to 350k, but it probably wont happen.

Im a bargain shopper, i like to pick up a player on sale . Mitchell will be at 20% off in 2 weeks time, jump on.