Tom Mitchell, recovering from a broken leg and now a Hawk until the end of 2023

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May 3, 2018
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"if the team can push towards finals I'd love to be a part of that."

Tom Mitchell Norm Smith



The ONLY way you’d him bring back this season would be if we have a serious chance in winning the flag which I’m afraid we will not #puthimincottonwool
 

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May 3, 2018
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If we are playing finals he might be back

That’s the thing. Depending on how realistic our chances are of winning the flag I don’t think it should out weigh him making the injury worse and have it interrupt his 2020 campaign. Case in point look at what happened with Fyfe when they brought him back too soon and I’m pretty sure he only had a fracture. The worse possible scenario would be that we rush him back too soon and then he misses the majority of the 2020 preseason which would then leave him playing catch up all year long and then open to other soft tissue injuries. I just feel that the long game needs to be played on this one as unfortunate as it is.
 
That’s the thing. Depending on how realistic our chances are of winning the flag I don’t think it should out weigh him making the injury worse and have it interrupt his 2020 campaign. Case in point look at what happened with Fyfe when they brought him back too soon and I’m pretty sure he only had a fracture. The worse possible scenario would be that we rush him back too soon and then he misses the majority of the 2020 preseason which would then leave him playing catch up all year long and then open to other soft tissue injuries. I just feel that the long game needs to be played on this one as unfortunate as it is.

The fact that Fyfe's was only a fracture was what made it worse.

He kept running and moving around on it, prolonging his time out of the game. At least with a break you don't have to worry too much about another break happening when they've recovered, and the main concern is on the strength of the supporting muscles which seems like a huge focus of Titches seeing as he's been moving unassisted ridiculously early.
 
May 3, 2018
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The fact that Fyfe's was only a fracture was what made it worse.

He kept running and moving around on it, prolonging his time out of the game. At least with a break you don't have to worry too much about another break happening when they've recovered, and the main concern is on the strength of the supporting muscles which seems like a huge focus of Titches seeing as he's been moving unassisted ridiculously early.

Hey I want a fit a firing Tom Mitchell back too BUT I feel people need to seriously start tempering their expectations a little. I just don’t want the guy to come back and break down every second week because they’ve rushed him back too soon. I’m fully confident that they won’t and that there’s no guarantees that he won’t have any teething problems but caution is definitely the way to go IMO.
 

Hawkie_McHawkHawk

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Hey I want a fit a firing Tom Mitchell back too BUT I feel people need to seriously start tempering their expectations a little. I just don’t want the guy to come back and break down every second week because they’ve rushed him back too soon. I’m fully confident that they won’t and that there’s no guarantees that he won’t have any teething problems but caution is definitely the way to go IMO.
The fact that he was walking around 2 and a half weeks post surgery in nothing but a bandage says that the injury isn’t quite what it seemed at first.. Hawthorn (as they always are) we’re very vague exactly what he’d done, so a plate to his fibula and not much damage to his tibia is very possible.
Either way if the club medicos decide he can play this year no doubt he is 100% fit and there’s no benefit resting him for the remainder of the season.
 
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If we make finals he'll be back. Its not like the club is going to put him out there if the injury could be worsened, it will have been 7(or so i believe) months since the injury when finals are here. Thats a long period of recovery for a broken leg.

Correct by the time finals start it will be 8.5 months since Tom did the injury, given it was 2 clean breaks that is generally more than enough time to be full recovered from that type of injury.
 
The ONLY way you’d him bring back this season would be if we have a serious chance in winning the flag which I’m afraid we will not #puthimincottonwool
I disagree.

The ONLY way you'd bring him back is when he's 100% fit & ready.

If we need him to win a flag but he's 90% then fu*k it, he doesn't play. If we're battling & sitting in last position & it's Round 22 & he's 100% fit & ready then fu*k it, he does play.

We play him based on fitness & readiness - nothing else. The 'cotton wool' thing is fake news.

We need to consider the mental aspect & sense of achievement an elite athlete gets from achieving their objectives. Completing re-hab is just another objective.

You take a guy with a bad break. He misses the follow-up season to winning a Brownlow Medal; following an off-season when we landed Scully + Wingard + Scrimshaw! He must habe been absolutely pumped about 2019! Now, he doesn't play from Sept 2018, but is 100% ready to go in August 2019. We need to let him have his accomplishment of 2019 (completing re-hab & returning to play), not lock him away & let him kick his next ball in anger in March 2020; a full 18 months since his last game, due to a 8x Month injury.
 

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4THAWN

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Correct by the time finals start it will be 8.5 months since Tom did the injury, given it was 2 clean breaks that is generally more than enough time to be full recovered from that type of injury.

yeah 8.5 months means Tom will most definitely be ready come finals time !!!
 
May 3, 2018
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I disagree.

The ONLY way you'd bring him back is when he's 100% fit & ready.

If we need him to win a flag but he's 90% then fu*k it, he doesn't play.

If we're battling & sitting in last position & it's Round 22 & he's 100% fit & ready then fu*k it, he does play.

We play him based on fitness & readiness - nothing else. The 'cotton wool' thing is fake news.

We need to consider the mental aspect & sense of achievement an elite athlete gets from achieving their objectives. Completing re-hab is just another objective.

You take a guy with a bad break. He misses the follow-up season to winning a Brownlow Medal; following an off-season when we landed Scully + Wingard + Scrimshaw! He must habe been absolutely pumped about 2019! Now, he doesn't play from Sept 2018, but is 100% ready to go in August 2019. We need to let him have his accomplishment of 2019 (completing re-hab & returning to play), not lock him away & let him kick his next ball in anger in March 2020; a full 18 months since his last game, due to a 8x Month injury.

You do realise that we both agree on 2/3 things that you have stated?

1) I agree that you only bring him back once he’s 100% healthy (this continues us to point 2)

2) I agree that if we’re in the flag hunt and he’s only 90% fit he doesn’t play*

3) I disagree that you consider playing him even if he’s 100% passed to do so but we’re already mathematically eliminated from finals contention. Especially if we are languishing in the bottom 3 spots of the ladder. The chance to draft Noah or Rowell would have us in a position to draft 1 of 2 guys that could be future stars that go on to play 200+ games for the club that we have not seen since Luke Hodge. I fully understand your argument in getting Tom back out there once passed fit but why not do the smart thing and play kids like Harry Jones, CJ, Ross, Moore etc. It’s not all just about Tom and IMO (keeping in mind I respect yours) unless he’s 100% and we’re in the hunt for a flag then it’s best he waits till 2020 and hopefully has Cogs + JOM beside him.

*I might not have been clear about this in my post but you by no means whatsoever play Tom at anything but 100% fitness and if that means missing a flag which I’m 99% sure will not be in 2019 anyways.
 

HolyRioli

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2017 we played O'Meara for the last two rounds of the season, against Carlton and the Bulldogs, despite barely being a chance for finals. Doing so was so important for his own confidence, as well as that of the clubs, his teammates and the fans.

If Mitchell is ready to go before the end of the season, he'll play. Regardless of how our season is progressing.
 

Milkshaker

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Tom absolutely plays if ready this year. This side is not gelling (only in patches). We need to see the impact Mitch has alongside our new additions. You can easily argue TOM got us over the line in a least 4 games last year through his individual brilliance. That was the difference between top 4 or missing finals all together. You could argue (based on last years form) he we would have at least helped us get over the Saints. We would be 8/9th with that win.
 

COKEandCOLA

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Tom absolutely plays if ready this year. This side is not gelling (only in patches). We need to see the impact Mitch has alongside our new additions. You can easily argue TOM got us over the line in a least 4 games last year through his individual brilliance. That was the difference between top 4 or missing finals all together. You could argue (based on last years form) he we would have at least helped us get over the Saints. We would be 8/9th with that win.

I also think that we'd have easily accounted for the Bulldogs and also could have been a real chance of knocking off Geelong.

If he's ready both physically and psychologically then it's a simple decision to make, until then it's all about getting experience into the kids.
 

hk89

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3) I disagree that you consider playing him even if he’s 100% passed to do so but we’re already mathematically eliminated from finals contention. Especially if we are languishing in the bottom 3 spots of the ladder. The chance to draft Noah or Rowell would have us in a position to draft 1 of 2 guys that could be future stars that go on to play 200+ games for the club that we have not seen since Luke Hodge. I fully understand your argument in getting Tom back out there once passed fit but why not do the smart thing and play kids like Harry Jones, CJ, Ross, Moore etc. It’s not all just about Tom and IMO (keeping in mind I respect yours) unless he’s 100% and we’re in the hunt for a flag then it’s best he waits till 2020 and hopefully has Cogs + JOM beside him.

Several reasons I disagree with those points:
- We've got 4 players that rotate through our midfield group now that barely played there last year. Scully, Wingard, Cousins, and even Worpel. I'd rather he starts melding with those guys as soon as possible rather than waiting for next year to get the chemistry right.
- A point I made in an earlier reply - he's still young enough to be learning and improving, time out of the game is time not learning.
- Not putting your best team on the park in order to finish as low as possible and cash in on picks creates the kind of cultures that can continue to be s**t even after they have decent players on the list. Melbourne comes to mind.

For mine, he should play as soon as 100% recovered.
 
Nov 13, 2018
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Sadly, unless something changes radically, I don't think we will trouble the finals... Not on current form...

It's possible.
  • Senior players return
  • O'Brien continues playing reasonably
  • Lewis cements a place
  • Sicily moves forward
  • Forward structure settles
  • One of Glass/Walker steps up.
  • Wingard reverts to his previous greatness.
Otherwise we are fighting for 4-8th.
I suspect these spots will be separated by 4-8 points.
Very tight this season.
 
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CD Xbow

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I have a dream.
Geelong finish on top by 10 million points, no accolade is too great for Fabblet and co, and there's no bath water left west of Lara for 100km.
Hawks aided by the return of Titch make the lower part of the 8 and battle through to the GF.
Geelong are the hot favourites and we repeat 2008, their worst nightmare.
 
I have a dream.
Geelong finish on top by 10 million points, no accolade is too great for Fabblet and co, and there's no bath water left west of Lara for 100km.
Hawks aided by the return of Titch make the lower part of the 8 and battle through to the GF.
Geelong are the hot favourites and we repeat 2008, their worst nightmare.
I'd rather we pull a 2014 on them with Rough doing a Hannebury to Paddy
 

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