Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn: Mitchell Lewis. Extended to 2026!

[HODGEYROAD]

Lewis is good as a contested grab type player, the issue is when he doesn't mark it he doesn't have much else going for him, needs to improve other facets substantially to become a good AFL player.

 

[Brant]

Would like to see how he would perform in a better team.

The delivery does him no favours.

I agree, but I'd love to see him get 'angry'

Burst out of the square & charge at the ball carrier, demanding the ball & if he's overlooked then give the ball carrier an almighty spray.

More chance of seeing him start on the wing of we want him to lead as the only leading we do is back toward goal.

 

[GOHORCS]

Lewis is good as a contested grab type player, the issue is when he doesn't mark it he doesn't have much else going for him, needs to improve other facets substantially to become a good AFL player.

Agreed. There is no sense of urgency with him around the ball. He doesn't recover well from a marking attempt. He clunks it or nothing.

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[TylerDurden]

He's average. But watching Collingwood now, they've got nothing coming through.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Shithouse tonight.

 

[Jaeger007]

Head first to Box Hill

 

[DannyJ]

Hes no good. Lack of 2nd and third efforts. They are actually non existent. Only like the easy stuff.

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[The Chad and I]

Hes no good. Lack of 2nd and third efforts. They are actually non existent. Only like the easy stuff.

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He's a marking player.
If we had a decent midfield he would be smashing it right now.

 

[TazHawk15]

I said it a year ago.

The kid lacks effort and to my eye you can almost see him thinking “oh here comes the ball oh I missed it, ah well better luck next time”

His lack of intent and will to compete will see him become delist material, god I hope I am wrong.

His opposition player must think after a few contests “this kid has the heart of a surprise pea”

I would love one of the coaching staff grab him and point out the opportunity the kid has, but his lack of intent is going to see him throw that opportunity down the drain.

 

[Billyc]

He’s not impressing. Work ethic and smarts are really lacking. That effort where he tried to claim a mark that nobody would ever fall for was a shocker. Terrible delivery the only saving grace for him but his work rate isn’t good

 

[Dewwwww]

I said it a year ago.

The kid lacks effort and to my eye you can almost see him thinking “oh here comes the ball oh I missed it, ah well better luck next time”

His lack of intent and will to compete will see him become delist material, god I hope I am wrong.

His opposition player must think after a few contests “this kid has the heart of a surprise pea”

I would love one of the coaching staff grab him and point out the opportunity the kid has but his lack of intent is going to see him throw that opportunity down the drain.

100% agree

Yes it would be hard to be a forward in our current side but that doesn’t prevent you from competing.

Lewis hasn’t shown consistent form at Box hill like Jeka has. And he is being gifted games. Time to head back to Box Hill for a month and work on his craft. Bring Jeka in for an extended run at it

 

[halfback dasher]

BoxHill bound surly.........

 

[Toasted]

“We need a bloke who can take a contested mark!!!”

We get a bloke who’s played 30 games and can take pack marks.

“We need him to ruck too!!”

Start to take more ruck contests.

“Why isn’t he also a defensive beast when the ball hits the ground!!!”

Maybe it’s time we recognised what he can do instead of slamming him for his faults. The kid can play

 

[Brant]

“We need a bloke who can take a contested mark!!!”

Maybe it’s time we recognised what he can do instead of slamming him for his faults. The kid can play

Perhaps somewhat ironically, I think he's pretty good when he's got a run at the ball, he or leading up to the Wing or even hitting a small pack.

I think playing him FF & not kicking to his advantage brings out the worst in his physical attributes (& maybe his temperament), which is what people are saying & commenting on.

We can ask & to an extent we can expect that he develops his game to fit other scenarios. We could also play to his strengths & give him half a chance of success.

Unfortunately, I know which one we'll do.

 

[halfback dasher]

“We need a bloke who can take a contested mark!!!”

We get a bloke who’s played 30 games and can take pack marks.

“We need him to ruck too!!”

Start to take more ruck contests.

“Why isn’t he also a defensive beast when the ball hits the ground!!!”

Maybe it’s time we recognised what he can do instead of slamming him for his faults. The kid can play

Jeka ticks the same box’s you mention ML does yet plays with more fire in the belly and aggression at the contests .....
How many games was he afforded ?

 

[rei154]

I remember at the start of last season we had an issue with him because he was dropped at the start of the year and really down on his confidence because of that.
He looks super down on confidence atm.
I'd love to see how he'd be going in a team with a competent midfield at the minute, it's a dark time to be a forward on our list.

That being said, I'd love to see him lead up to the carrier instead of wrestling his defender with the ball being bombed onto his head.

 

[Luv_our_club]

- SEN radio commentary of the game was critical of Lewis for too often trying to mark the ball without making any body contact. Often when he does mark it is out the back of the pack - because of a good leap, hands in the back, or it slips through to him.

- Our club's marking coaching seems to never translate to improvements on the field - not with TOB, not with Lewis, and our forwards don't seem to work for each other like other teams.

- I noticed Tim English body has completely changed this year and he is now bodying opposition players in marking contests. TOB's body never changed. Lewis' body should be scary by 2022 - but i suspect it will not be. That confuses me.

- I think everyone has noticed that our forwards look to be instructed against leading to the ball carrier inside 50 - wtf is that about.

 

[Bardo State]

Lewis was poor for a lot of last night but Jeka (or Kosi) would be anonymous in his role. Jeka has shown a great ability to get separation on a lead at VFL level. He hasn't shown an ability to bring the ball to ground when that doesn't happen. If he had to hold himself as the deepest forward at AFL level, he would likely be outmarked all day.

I'll also say that Lewis had triple the number of pressure acts compared to Kosi. 4 score involvements to 1. 2 contested marks to 0. Playing deepest and taking Collins. Both had a lot they could improve on but Lewis ended up having more of an impact. And anyone thinking Jeka could come in and do a better job is in for a shock.

Reeves is staying in with McEvoy. That leaves 2 tall forward spots, one of which has to be Lewis or TOB at this stage.

 

[Toasted]

Jeka ticks the same box’s you mention ML does yet plays with more fire in the belly and aggression at the contests .....
How many games was he afforded ?

Two. And in those 2 games he averaged 5 disposals, 2 tackles and kicked a point.
But your right, he definitely should have kept his spot in the team ahead of Lewis.

 

[halfback dasher]

Two. And in those 2 games he averaged 5 disposals, 2 tackles and kicked a point.
But your right, he definitely should have kept his spot in the team ahead of Lewis.

So stats are your thing .....int

 

[rei154]

- I think everyone has noticed that our forwards look to be instructed against leading to the ball carrier inside 50 - wtf is that about.

I'm wondering about this too. Is it that our game plan revolved around kicking players open? If that's the case our smalls and the others around them aren't doing enough to keep the defenders occupied as currently they're zoning off for free.
We seem to have space on the fat side free, but either we don't have the kicking capabilities to hit players in it, or we don't have the field sense to recognise that that space is free (either kickers or forwards).

 

[Blackhawk42]

Must be in the minority of thinking that he wasn't that bad last night. If he was playing second in line behind a Kennedy/Hawkins/Mackay type he'd look a lot better. Currently he's playing either number 1 forward target or number 2 behind Kosi who has played 10 games. So much inexperience not helped by a game plan that seemingly doesn't prioritise kicking to a leading forward.

2 goals and 3 tackles from a young centre half forward in a 7 goal loss doesn't scream 'drop me' IMO.

 

[Toasted]

So stats are your thing .....int

And players that don’t touch the footy are yours.

 

[westhawk]

To everyone saying he has talent, and if he had better delivery, or had better forwards around him, that he would be better. He probably would, but the fact is, he doesn’t and he needs to pull his finger out of his ass and show some intent. He looks lazy, he doesn’t chase, he doesn’t crash packs, his second efforts are garbage. If he doesn’t take the mark he has no interest. Should be spending an extended period at Box Hill. Play him in the ruck at Box Hill and work him hard.

 

[Dewwwww]

Jeka ticks the same box’s you mention ML does yet plays with more fire in the belly and aggression at the contests .....
How many games was he afforded ?

Two. And in those 2 games he averaged 5 disposals, 2 tackles and kicked a point.
But your right, he definitely should have kept his spot in the team ahead of Lewis.

In those 2 games most ventures forward our midfielders were looking for Jeka. Jeka has a presence about him and even at this early on in his career the players just want to deliver it to him. He was our most impressive key forward at training first half of the preseason (until Kosi took over) and has the consistent form at Box Hill. He deserves an extended run at it at senior level.

Mitch Lewis has a role in this side moving forward. But I feel a month at box hill working on his craft won’t hurt

It looks like the club want Reeves to have an extended run at it with McEvoy playing forward so this makes even more sense to bring the more mobile Jeka in as McEvoy can take that contested mark up forward for us