Tom Mitchell

[Markwebbos]

Barry I hate to bring this up, but he did also mention he wanted to return to Victoria too.

[Nico]

As others have said, it's just not true to say he played reserves or had low game time in 2016. So it is a real stretch for Mitchell to state that as the major reason for leaving.

Even if he was thinking that way prior, playing a full season in 2016 really took that basic issue off the table by the time a new contract was being negotiated.

Having said that, he was behind other players with us, and aside from a lot of money, Hawthorn were offering a more prominent role. He would have still been a very good player, but there's no doubt he wouldn't have reached the heights in the last 2 years if he was still with us.

He went for the Laurie Nash.

[Nico]

I'm not sure you can call Barry a mercenary. When he left the swans, a lot of people were leaving what was essentially a sinking ship. He probably chased $$ in the last year or two of his contract, just to prolong his career. Quite common these days.

He left when the likes of John Elliot were throwing cheques around like confetti.

[jono2707]

Well done to Tom - well deserved.

IMHO, no matter how you cut it, trading away a future Brownlow medallist can't be seen in hindsight as a good deal.

[Captain]

Tom going was a mistake. Those arguing otherwise are kidding themselves.

Brad Seymour mentioned at the time that the club rated Kennedy, Parkers, Hanners, Heeney and Mills ahead of Tom.

The biggest error was being stubborn and not rating him higher after the 2016 GF.

All clubs make mistakes and hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Markwebbos]

He’s not coming back. Hanners probably gone in 2019. Time to move on and bring in fresh blood. Mills, Jones and others.

[liz]

Tom going was a mistake. Those arguing otherwise are kidding themselves.

Brad Seymour mentioned at the time that the club rated Kennedy, Parkers, Hanners, Heeney and Mills ahead of Tom.

The biggest error was being stubborn and not rating him higher after the 2016 GF.

All clubs make mistakes and hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I am not sure why "after the 2016 GF" is relevant. He would have made up his mind he was leaving well before then.

[Captain]

I am not sure why "after the 2016 GF" is relevant. He would have made up his mind he was leaving well before then.

Incorrect, there was still a small window to 'up' our offer.

[royboy42]

Great player. We let him go, probably equally push/ pull factors. Time to move on.

[Ludwig]

I feel really bad, 'cause my crystal ball was in the repair shop after the 2016 GF. Had it been working, I could have alerted Tom Harley that we should have traded Hanners instead of Mitchell. He was at the top of his game and maybe we could have gotten 2 first rounders for him.

[KSAS]

I remember Tom Mitchell & Steve Congilio being interviewed live from Sydney on AFL360 in 2016 in lead up to a Sydney derby match. It was about the half way mark of the season. Robbo out of the blue asked Tom if he was going to sign new contract with the Swans, as he'd heard rumours of a Hawthorn's offer. Tom gave a positive answer how happy he is in Sydney etc.. & hoping he would stay at the club. It was enough to convince Robbo he was staying in Sydney, but I remember thinking that if felt just short of him being fully committed in signing. Tom later came out with the classic line of leaving contract it till end of the season to concentrate on his footy & playing finals.

Come PF against Geelong at the G & Tom still hasn't signed, with Clarkson spotted in the stands heightening the Hawthorn rumours which came to be. At that point Robbo on AFL360 referred back to his earlier Hawthorn rumour, where during our bye round Tom was seriously considering signing Swans contract offer, when Hawthorn came right over the top with a big offer which the Swans couldn't match.

To add further light on this, the AFL then announced (post trade/draft period) the new Salary Cap ceiling which increased in % terms a lot higher than everyone expected. I remember Scott Lucas saying on SEN at the time that this probably impacted the Swans more than any other club, because it meant they probably could've hanged onto Tom Mitchell (offer him bigger contract) had they known Salary Cap was going to increase by that amount. Scott couldn't understand the logic of the AFL making this announcement after the trade period when the clubs had already finalised their lists. Read into that as you will.

[barry]

Barry I hate to bring this up, but he did also mention he wanted to return to Victoria too.

They all do.

[aardvark]

They all do.

Why wouldn't they?

[ernie koala]

If Ollie Florent goes on to have a stella 200+ game career at the Swans, maybe a few bnf's, at least 1 AA, then we can look back and say...Not a bad result..

But the way things stand now , the Swans erred badly. They mistakenly had him No.4 or lower, on their midfield pecking order.

Congrats to Tom...He's a fine player, and he had a fabulous season. Good luck to him.

[barry]

I remember Tom Mitchell & Steve Congilio being interviewed live from Sydney on AFL360 in 2016 in lead up to a Sydney derby match. It was about the half way mark of the season. Robbo out of the blue asked Tom if he was going to sign new contract with the Swans, as he'd heard rumours of a Hawthorn's offer. Tom gave a positive answer how happy he is in Sydney etc.. & hoping he would stay at the club. It was enough to convince Robbo he was staying in Sydney, but I remember thinking that if felt just short of him being fully committed in signing. Tom later came out with the classic line of leaving contract it till end of the season to concentrate on his footy & playing finals.

Come PF against Geelong at the G & Tom still hasn't signed, with Clarkson spotted in the stands heightening the Hawthorn rumours which came to be. At that point Robbo on AFL360 referred back to his earlier Hawthorn rumour, where during our bye round Tom was seriously considering signing Swans contract offer, when Hawthorn came right over the top with a big offer which the Swans couldn't match.

To add further light on this, the AFL then announced (post trade/draft period) the new Salary Cap ceiling which increased in % terms a lot higher than everyone expected. I remember Scott Lucas saying on SEN at the time that this probably impacted the Swans more than any other club, because it meant they probably could've hanged onto Tom Mitchell (offer him bigger contract) had they known Salary Cap was going to increase by that amount. Scott couldn't understand the logic of the AFL making this announcement after the trade period when the clubs had already finalised their lists. Read into that as you will.

Are you saying some clubs knew of the big increase and others didn't?