Collingwood premiership winner Tom Mitchell has unloaded on his former club Hawthorn after lifting the lid on the reasons behind his split from the Hawks. In a less than flattering account of his time at the AFL powerhouse, Mitchell accused the club of being “unprofessional” and said he was unfairly targeted by coaching staff.
The Pies midfielder requested a trade away from Hawthorn at the end of the 2022 season, with the move paying instant dividends as the 30-year-old tasted premiership success in his first season with Collingwood. Mitchell won the 2018 Brownlow Medal with the Hawks but says he knew his time was up at the club in 2022 after claiming that he was frequently made out to be a scapegoat in team meetings.
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Speaking on his his Ball Magnets podcast, Mitchell revealed that he wanted to finish his career at Hawthorn but was forced to look elsewhere when it became clear he was no longer wanted. “I wanted to stay at Hawthorn for the rest of my career. I was content, happy,” he said. “But certain things happened. I knew they wanted me out. I knew as soon as round one, round two. Some funny things happened.
“The coaches do a game-rating system out of five at Hawthorn, which they put on the walls for everyone to see after a game. I’m very close with all the Hawthorn players, we’re very good mates.
“In round one, I think we played North, I was the only player in the team to get rated a one out of five. In round two we had a [64-point] win against Port Adelaide away. Great team win. I was the only player that got rated a two out of five or less. Only player in the whole team.
“The funniest thing about both of those games was I think I got Brownlow votes in both games, so I played pretty well. But there were some signs there. I’m like, ‘Something’s going on here, this is weird’.”
