Whats the case for Mitchell our greatest ever centreman ?

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Pessimistic

Pessimistic

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30k Posts 10k Posts HBF's Milk Crate - 70k Posts TheBrownDog
Sep 13, 2000
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the only negative I can find is he can be tagged out, in big games. But the other centremen of the past could always smash thir opponenets, or have a hard man smash them.

But Im not declaring it, just asking what is the case for ?

Am I even right to nominate him as centreman ?
 
He is up there. Hardly wastes a disposal even under pressure and his evasiveness is second to none. One of the best I have seen at the Hawks.
 
As a blond number 5 nicknamed The Extractor, he could only have been a rover. But to the extent we can still apply the old positions I think he's now a centreman.

If he is, he's our best ever. Pick your criteria: B&Fs, flags, brownlow votes, longevity. Would've been in the state side most years. Jim Bohan is named in our TotC, he would replace him.
 

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Mitchell is heads & shoulders our best centre man of the modern era....Not really up for debate TBH....And arguably our best player of the past 15 years.

Bucky, Jars & Hall were more skilful, but spent a lot of their time on the HFF....Also, Jars & Hall never hung around long enuf.....Ditto, Brendan Edwards.

As for Bohan & Spinks et al....If there is anyone old enuf still hanging about who saw em, then they can fill us in to the contrary.... But I doubt it!
 
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Mitchell has this amazing ability to create space - He draws players, to open space for his team mates ... it is brilliant to watch.
... Best ever?? .. tough call ... But he's up there, no doubt!

Similar to Boomer Harvey .. I reckon Mitch could easily play until he's 35 ... he doesn't rely on speed ... Just amazing skill.
 
Took my a long time to truly appreciate everything Mitchell does week in week out, so easy to sit in awe of Franklin, Hodge, Cyril and the likes but when I started to watch the game for more than face entertainment value and break the game down that's when I truly understood what makes Mitchell so damn special. He's Neo and Moses rolled into one, he suspends time around him then parts opposition players with precision skills, he makes everyone around him look slow of foot.
 
I don't know that he's getting any better, but I certainly think he's becoming more effective each year. Maybe it's the rotations, giving him space instead of being the guy at the bottom of the pack? I see him now as 'The Distributor' these days, far more than being 'The Extractor' & I think he's more important to us in that role as well as being more resilient to being tagged.
 
Nuggets73 said:
Mitchell has this amazing ability to create space - He draws players, to open space for his team mates ... it is brilliant to watch.
... Best ever?? .. tough call ... But he's up there, no doubt!

Similar to Boomer Harvey .. I reckon Mitch could easily play until he's 35 ... he doesn't rely on speed ... Just amazing skill.
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Sammy's ability to create space is just crazy, he seems to play the game standing still, just wiggling his hips and getting free.
And time just stands still around him.

The whole Grand Final, he didn't get out of a trot - he just stood there bulleting handballs out to players in space.

If he's not the greatest midfielder we've had, it's pretty close, and only because we've had so many great midfielders.
 
I rate Mitchell as our third best ever midfielder behind Matthews and Tuck. He will go down a Hawthorn legend when he retires.
 
would be handy if he kicked more goals....has never really done that in his career
 
Pessimistic said:
the only negative I can find is he can be tagged out, in big games. But the other centremen of the past could always smash thir opponenets, or have a hard man smash them.
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Two of those taggers - Kirk & Ling - got him a long time ago when he was still developing. Mitchell now (or last season at least) is a lot cleverer than he was in 07-08. There would be a case for Crowley tagging him out, but only based on the 13 GF. The only other tagger I can think of who had regular success against Sam was K. Cornes who used to "octopus" him on a regular basis & really doesn't tag any more.

Mitchell, I think, is easily one of the top 5 mids we've had.
 
MrPremiership said:
would be handy if he kicked more goals....has never really done that in his career
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Add to the fact he is not seen as a run and carry player, it is these midfielders that are bestowed all the accolades.

For mine he is a joy to watch and over the last few years very rarely puts a bloke in trouble with his passes. This is where he is truly a class act, he relies heavily on instinct but also has vision ahead of the play.
 

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Davo23 said:
Sammy's ability to create space is just crazy, he seems to play the game standing still, just wiggling his hips and getting free.
And time just stands still around him.

The whole Grand Final, he didn't get out of a trot - he just stood there bulleting handballs out to players in space.

If he's not the greatest midfielder we've had, it's pretty close, and only because we've had so many great midfielders.
Click to expand...

Lethal, the Rat .. The list goes on & on .. ;-)
 
I reckon you could argue that with the modern trend of things being extremely congested around the ball, plus the increased tackling pressure, his ability to find time and space and execute disposal like he does is worth a lot more now than what it was previously.

There was a thread on the main board about comparing him to Greg Williams. There was some footage of Williams from the 90's and it showed how much space he had around stoppages. I reckon he was even slower than Mitchell yet he had all the time in the world to run and kick goals and get handballs away because 1) There was less congestion and 2) Lack of defensive tackling pressure.

Sam is as good as we have ever had and is as good as Williams no doubt. Lack of goal I don't really think should count as a negative. Players now rotate off the bench rather than up forward plus Sam has the ability to work to the half back line where his vision and distributions skills are ital again due to forward pressure that applied nowadays compared to previous years.
 
Gaston said:
Add to the fact he is not seen as a run and carry player, it is these midfielders that are bestowed all the accolades.

For mine he is a joy to watch and over the last few years very rarely puts a bloke in trouble with his passes. This is where he is truly a class act, he relies heavily on instinct but also has vision ahead of the play.
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runner up in a brownlow and won a JJ Liston....
 
Gaston said:
Add to the fact he is not seen as a run and carry player, it is these midfielders that are bestowed all the accolades.

For mine he is a joy to watch and over the last few years very rarely puts a bloke in trouble with his passes. This is where he is truly a class act, he relies heavily on instinct but also has vision ahead of the play.
Click to expand...

Funny how KB used that as an excuse in 2013 AA, we all knew he meant sammy.

Then in 2014 midfielders kicking goals didnt seem to be a requiremen any more....
 
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