Player comebacks 2020

Daniher is a huge part of the puzzle for Essendon. Getting back on the park and playing well may also see him staying next year.

For the Blues, Doc is obvious.

We'd also like to see full seasons from Cuningham, Williamson and Macreadie enter their 5th and 4th years.

While not a comeback, some continuity for Marchbank too please.
 
May 29, 2008
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I'm not a Hawthorn fan by any stretch of the imagination, but jeez Tom Mitchell is criminally underrated. I mean, is there really a debate as to whether he is a top 10 mid in the game? Sure he doesn't have the burst pace of Danger, the leap and marking of Fyfe, or the goal kicking of Dusty; but there is NO other mid in the league that is more consistent and better at what he does than T.Mitchell. He's arguably got the best footy IQ in the business. He's not a "kick chaser", he just has an innate ability to read the play before it happens, and knows where he needs to be. Combine that with his elite endurance, which enables him to also play as a link up man on the outside, and it's no wonder he racks up the amount of disposals he does.

They are by no means all cheapies in the backline, either. He's a better extractor of the ball at stoppages than all previous players mentioned - and getting first hands on the ball is still a bloody important facet in footy. His kicking's not his best suit (though not terrible, and he knows his limits), but his hands are probably the best in the business (though my boy Clarry Oliver will take the mantle one day soon ;))

Mitchell is not as dynamic as Fyfe, Dusty, Danger or Cripps; but he is more consistent than all of them and in his own way is just as impactful. He's closer to 5th than he is 10th.
 

hk89

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 12, 2009
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Grimes has always been this good. Non Richmond supporters just haven't noticed because Rance is better. After a knee though, who knows

Knee AND wrong side of 30. Wouldn't be surprised to see Rance slowly drift into Riewoldt territory, who is still very good when having a good day, and has good moments most games, but his good days are getting spread further apart as old man time starts to take a toll.
 

hk89

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 12, 2009
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I'm not a Hawthorn fan by any stretch of the imagination, but jeez Tom Mitchell is criminally underrated. I mean, is there really a debate as to whether he is a top 10 mid in the game? Sure he doesn't have the burst pace of Danger, the leap and marking of Fyfe, or the goal kicking of Dusty; but there is NO other mid in the league that is more consistent and better at what he does than T.Mitchell. He's arguably got the best footy IQ in the business. He's not a "kick chaser", he just has an innate ability to read the play before it happens, and knows where he needs to be. Combine that with his elite endurance, which enables him to also play as a link up man on the outside, and it's no wonder he racks up the amount of disposals he does.

They are by no means all cheapies in the backline, either. He's a better extractor of the ball at stoppages than all previous players mentioned - and getting first hands on the ball is still a bloody important facet in footy. His kicking's not his best suit (though not terrible, and he knows his limits), but his hands are probably the best in the business (though my boy Clarry Oliver will take the mantle one day soon ;))

Mitchell is not as dynamic as Fyfe, Dusty, Danger or Cripps; but he is more consistent than all of them and in his own way is just as impactful. He's closer to 5th than he is 10th.

Hawthorn fans have gotten used to it, because his namesake Sam was criminally underrated for pretty much exactly the same reasons. People seem more willing to overlook the shortcomings of dynamic mids , while focusing a lot more on the lack of dynamism in players like T.Mitchell and S.Mitchell. It is easy to get why too, when you're in the nosebleed stands, the guy at the bottom of the pack getting it out to a teammate is nearly invisible compared to an explosive mid breaking away from a pack or taking a contested mark while resting at full forward. Those attributes are super valuable, so I get why they are focused on, but the reality is there are 3 or 4 players that can do what Martin/Fyfe/Danger can do, but none that can do what T.Mitchell does as well as he does it, which is extract the ball in a contest and get it to a teammate, and while that might be one dimensional, it is a pretty bloody valuable trait too.
 

MadMundy

Brownlow Medallist
Mar 29, 2019
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Alex Pearce coming back and tearing up opposition forward line like he was doing before his injury will be great. If he stays fit, he's a lock for AA defender.
 
Alex Pearce coming back and tearing up opposition forward line like he was doing before his injury will be great. If he stays fit, he's a lock for AA defender.

yep

he was a massive loss in 2019
 
Jan 7, 2011
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Dylan Roberton is one i really hope can become fit again. He is a very good player for the saints.
Yep, 2nd in our B&F in his last season before his collapse and was our best performed across the JLT games and intra-club this year, before he had to sit it out again, so he'll be a huge inclusion for us if he has a successful comeback in 2020.
 

Royce Hafey

Premiership Player
Mar 6, 2013
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I'm not a Hawthorn fan by any stretch of the imagination, but jeez Tom Mitchell is criminally underrated. I mean, is there really a debate as to whether he is a top 10 mid in the game? Sure he doesn't have the burst pace of Danger, the leap and marking of Fyfe, or the goal kicking of Dusty; but there is NO other mid in the league that is more consistent and better at what he does than T.Mitchell. He's arguably got the best footy IQ in the business. He's not a "kick chaser", he just has an innate ability to read the play before it happens, and knows where he needs to be. Combine that with his elite endurance, which enables him to also play as a link up man on the outside, and it's no wonder he racks up the amount of disposals he does.

They are by no means all cheapies in the backline, either. He's a better extractor of the ball at stoppages than all previous players mentioned - and getting first hands on the ball is still a bloody important facet in footy. His kicking's not his best suit (though not terrible, and he knows his limits), but his hands are probably the best in the business (though my boy Clarry Oliver will take the mantle one day soon ;))

Mitchell is not as dynamic as Fyfe, Dusty, Danger or Cripps; but he is more consistent than all of them and in his own way is just as impactful. He's closer to 5th than he is 10th.
I agree Mitchell is underrated by fans on Bigfooty (though nearly not by the umpires who gave him the Brownlow). He's underrated in the opposite way to Shane Edwards which, apart from trolling, is one of the reasons Richmond fans are a bit down on him. I would also see his return as more important than Rance's, not because he's a better player, but because he's more important to his team. Richmond were able to cover for Rance's absence, but Hawthorn don't have a midfield equivalent of Grimes to step in when Mitchell is down.

Apart from that I'd like to mention Snags Higgins from Richmond returning from his brain bleeding - not the most significant return in pure footy terms, but up there with Majak as a human interest story.
 

Blue_Steel89

Team Captain
Aug 9, 2019
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Daniher is a huge part of the puzzle for Essendon. Getting back on the park and playing well may also see him staying next year.

For the Blues, Doc is obvious.

We'd also like to see full seasons from Cuningham, Williamson and Macreadie enter their 5th and 4th years.

While not a comeback, some continuity for Marchbank too please.

Would love a full season from Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay as well!
 

gbatman

Brownlow Medallist
Mar 26, 2008
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At Carlton it will be Sam Docherty and Tom Williamson.

To another extent it will be Charli Curnow and David Cunningham who had nothing years last season and new draftee Kemp who will take most of the year off after a knee reconstruction.
 

Jez1974

Team Captain
Oct 8, 2019
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Well, here at the hawks well be hanging out for comebacks from Tom Mitchell and Jon Patton

Both handy players. Who else will be back? Rance from Richmond is a big one, and of course Watts
12 games max out of Patton
Mitchell's a gun!!
 
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