Tom Mitchell

[royboy42]

It’s on the Hawks website, google the players’ names and Channel 7 and it will come up.

I have as little fondness for Tom as any Swans fans, but feel his comments in this particular interview (if it’s the one that has been referred to) have been misrepresented here.

I've torn their website and Twitter and Google apart, and still can't find this.
Can anyone convince me that these comments exist? Are they a myth that's got out of control?
We've gone through the Goodes crap, crowds are starting to get on Buddy's back....all starting from nonsense comments that grew like Topsy until no one even knew where they started.

[Vonsteinman]

I've torn their website and Twitter and Google apart, and still can't find this.
Can anyone convince me that these comments exist? Are they a myth that's got out of control?
We've gone through the Goodes crap, crowds are starting to get on Buddy's back....all starting from nonsense comments that grew like Topsy until no one even knew where they started.

Ok, not saying that this is definitely the video referred to but this is a link to what I watched on 7 around the time of Ronke’s seven-goal game...

At home with Jaeger and Tom - hawthornfc.com.au

[rojo]

As I see it with Mitchell he came to us as a young player already recognised as having unique talent and Roos went out of his way to see that he came to the Swans even having him stay at his place at times in the year before he was drafted. Early on he was sidelined by a variety of injuries but eventually began to shine in the Neafl. I think that may be Roos was gone by then. When he got into the Seniors he was always going to be 4th in the pecking line behind JPK, Hanners and Parks. He was just starting to hit his straps when he was let go. Not only was he seen as 4th in line, as people on here kept an saying, we didn't need what he offered, he was too slow, poor kick etc and we needed to make space for Heeney and Jones etc to get a game. I always thought this was a short sighted view. He is now hitting his straps and has opportunity to show how valuable a player he can be. Why shouldn't we be happy for him. We could have kept him if we wanted to but we didn't! So why all the sour grapes now?

[chalbilto]

Spot on Rojo. At the time I was disappointed that the club let him go, but have had to accept the decision. No point sooking about his departure now, it's just a pity that he went to Hawthorn. Anyway good luck to him he has earned all the accolades he has received.

[royboy42]

He said “some things didn’t go my way with selection and injury, but that stuff happens to most players” , and that’s ALL he said. Pretty long bow to call that sour grapes or a sense of entitlement. Unless there is something else, he is unfairly criticised.

[sidswan]

I'm not saying he's not talented, and he has been voted the MVP but I still think he seems arrogant and he didn't ever seem like a typical (humble) Swan! And I still hope he DOESN'T win the Brownlow!

[rojo]

I wasn't intending to suggest any 'sour grapes' on the part of Tom. I am really pleased that he is doing so well, despite the fact that it is with the Hawks. I am more upset that we let him go.
I am hoping that the same thing is not going to happen with Lloyd. We find money to extend the contracts of McVeigh, Grundy and NS but it seems we don't want to offer what Jake's manager thinks he is worth, as yet.

[The Big Cat]

His father left us for the money and his mentor Greg Williams was a money chaser. Enough said. (Although I should add that we paid him way-overs for years while he was injured or kicking the dew off the grass in the NEAFL)

[stevoswan]

While I was sad to see him go (yes, especially to Dawkthorn), I will always remember him more for his lack of sheer unbridled joy, like his team mates always showed, when he kicked a goal or just did something good for the team rather than for his footy skills. He always seemed a touch detached from the 'team' to me. Maybe he's just a bit shy or modest but he seems a bit better in this regard at Hawthorn. In regard to his skills, I struggle to remember his 'highlights' like I can for some of the stuff his former midfield mates in JPK, Hanners and Parks have done over the years.

I'm not 'doing a Bucks' and dismissing him, he has undoubted skill.....but to me he's never going to take mark of the year, he's never going to kick goal of the year and he's never going to have a career highlights reel that makes you go "Wow!" or "WTF?!" and that leaves your jaw on the floor.

He is a relentless workhorse who reads the play as good as any and racks up phenomenal stats.....but is he going to take games by the scruff of the neck and win them off his own boot? Like Buddy does or Heeney will or even Ronke for that matter who already has and ironically, against Tom and his new team. I don't think he will.....but he will no doubt contribute hugely to his team on a consistent basis and 'help' them win games (or not)....and probably win Brownlows! Bastard!!

[Bloody Hell]

By the time he left us, he had been a permanent fixture in the senior team for two seasons. The days of him being stuck in the NEAFL were well in the past. The reasons were given at the time - he'd had a few injury interruptions and there were doubts over his fitness.

I didn't see/read the interview that Wardy refers to, so can't comment around the context/tone of whatever he said. But it does see weird to me that if he was still upset about events from three years earlier.

There certainly doesn't seem to be any warmth towards the Swans from Mitchell, for whatever reason. Compare that to JPK, who always talks well about the Hawks whenever relevant, despite spending less time there, and playing far fewer games and achieving far less, than Mitchell did at the Swans. Yes, I realise there is still a very strong family connection between Kennedy and the Hawks, but there was some family connection too for Mitchell and the Swans.

That's Mitchell's prerogative, but it's not hard to understand why (some) Swans fans would then feel less fondness towards him than we do towards some other ex-Swans now making their way at other clubs.

Spot on. Sick of hearing that he couldn't get a game and he left to play senior footy. Complete crap. He played 45 games in a row before he left.

Not saying he wasn't playing, just that he probably had a bad taste in his mouth from previous events.

The thing I wonder about was could we have kept him if we wanted?

[ernie koala]

Not saying he wasn't playing, just that he probably had a bad taste in his mouth from previous events.

The thing I wonder about was could we have kept him if we wanted?

I never got the impression he didn't want to stay with the Swans. He proceeded with contract talks early in 2016...They eventually stalled.

My reading of that, is that the Swans thought Kennedy, Parker and Hannebery were worth a little more than Tom.

He, and no doubt his manager, thought differently....They were right, he got offered a better deal elsewhere. Which in turn positions him higher in that clubs midfield pecking order.

In hindsight, the Swans made an error in judgement, as all clubs do from time to time.

Hat's off to Tom he's a fine player.

[Blood Fever]

I never got the impression he didn't want to stay with the Swans. He proceeded with contract talks early in 2016...They eventually stalled.

My reading of that, is that the Swans thought Kennedy, Parker and Hannebery were worth a little more than Tom.

He, and no doubt his manager, thought differently....They were right, he got offered a better deal elsewhere. Which in turn positions him higher in that clubs midfield pecking order.

In hindsight, the Swans made an error in judgement, as all clubs do from time to time.

Hat's off to Tom he's a fine player.

Keeping him would have meant 4 one paced midfielders

[0918330512]

Keeping him would have meant 4 one paced midfielders

With hindsight, I’m not unhappy with that. Or else, with 20:20 hindsight, Hanners traded out. But we got what we got.

[CureTheSane]

In hindsight it was a poor trade based on strength of the team.
But obviously dollars also play a role here and we simply may not have been able to keep him.

At the time, I, as well as most here, were happy enough with the trade, so hard to cast any blame at the club regardless.
It happens. Nobody predicted that he would continue to develop and star as he has.

[barry]

Assuming he wins a brownlow this year, history will judge this as a swans stuff up.
But maybe the change of scenery made him a better player than he ever could be at the swans.