Sam Mitchell

Samuel Mitchell (born 12 October 1982) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is the current coach of the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League.

As a player, he played with the Hawthorn Football Club and West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League.

He was the club's best and fairest player in 1999 and 2000.

Disappointed at being overlooked in the 2000 draft, Mitchell joined the Box Hill Hawks.

After a couple of games in the reserves he gained promotion to the seniors and completed the season as the team's number one rover.

He was a member of Box Hill's premiership side in 2001.

Mitchell was recruited to the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL in the 2001 AFL draft with selection number 36.

This selection was received by Hawthorn in the deal which saw Trent Croad and Luke McPharlin traded to Fremantle, whilst Hawthorn gained selections one (Luke Hodge), 20 (Daniel Elstone) and number 36 (Mitchell).

The first half of his debut season in 2002 saw him playing with the Box Hill Hawks, until he broke into the Hawthorn side midway through the season.

Following some unimpressive performances where he never managed more than 14 disposals, he was dropped for round 15 but was recalled after more eye-catching performances in round 19.

He polled 31 votes in just 11 games to win the VFL's best and fairest award, the J. J. Liston Trophy.

Mitchell played a total of 307 games and kicked a total of 67 goals for Hawthorn from 2002 until 2016 and was a member of Hawthorn's 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015 premiership teams.

In 2003 Mitchell continued to improve, winning the 2003 AFL Rising Star award and becoming known as "the Extractor" (particularly by commentator Brian Taylor) for his high amount of clearances and ability to win the ball out of middle of the ground.

A solid season followed in 2004, and in 2005 he played a "super" season until a foot injury sidelined him in round 15.

After overcoming a serious hamstring injury that saw him miss nine weeks, it meant that Mitchell played only 16 of a possible 25 games for the Hawks, his lowest tally since 2005 when he played 14 games.

Still averaging over 28 disposals per game for the season mixing between midfield and half-back, Mitchell played a critical role in Hawthorn’s back-to-back premierships and was recognised as such by being named the side’s best player in the finals series by his coaches.

Averaging 31.6 disposals, 9.0 marks, 6.3 tackles and 5.6 clearances across the three games, and was unlucky not to win the Norm Smith Medal in the Grand Final after 33 disposals, nine tackles, seven clearances and a goal assist.

For the 2006 season, Mitchell was named vice-captain of Hawthorn and displayed stellar form throughout the season culminating in winning the Peter Crimmins Medal for Hawthorn's best and fairest.

In 2007 he capped off another wonderful season by coming 3rd in the votes for the highest honour in Australian Football, the Brownlow Medal with 21 votes, 1 short of joint 2nd-place winners, North Melbourne's Brent Harvey and Brisbane's Simon Black who both polled 22 votes, and coming 8 votes behind winner of the 2007 Brownlow, Geelong's Jimmy Bartel.

On 6 October 2007, during the Peter Crimmins Medal Event, he was announced as Hawthorn's next captain, taking over the reins from retiring captain Richie Vandenberg.

Mitchell was ineligible for 2008's Brownlow Medal following a tripping charge in the match against Melbourne in round nine.

On Saturday, 27 September, Mitchell captained the Hawks to the 2008 premiership, the first in 17 years and the club's 10th, beating the reigning premiers, Geelong, by 26 points.

Mitchell was reported for rough conduct against Geelong's Gary Ablett, Jr. in the second quarter, however the report was dismissed at the conclusion of the weekend.

At the end of the 2010 season he handed the captaincy over to Luke Hodge, who was made captain of the 2010 All-Australian team.

Mitchell polled 30 votes in the 2011 Brownlow Medal, but was ineligible to win after an incident in round 5 of the season; he had the second-most votes, behind Collingwood's Dane Swan.

Mitchell was rewarded with the Peter Crimmins Medal in 2011, 2012 and 2016, and became a five-time best and fairest winner at Hawthorn, behind only Leigh Matthews, who won eight during his career.

In 2012, Mitchell, along with Richmond's Trent Cotchin, both finished tied for second place in the Brownlow to Jobe Watson.

Mitchell became a triple premiership player with the Hawks in season 2014, and like a swathe of his team mates his year was interrupted by a serious injury.

Mitchell became a four-time premiership player with the Hawks in season 2015, with some considering it to be Sam Mitchell’s best AFL season to date, in which he earned his third All-Australian selection, but finished just behind Josh Gibson and Cyril Rioli in the Peter Crimmins Medal count.

His disposal tally of 748 and average of 31.2 topped the AFL and represents his own peak.

On 16 occasions, Mitchell tallied 30 or more disposals, and collected a record-breaking 137 disposals across four matches during the finals.

Mitchell was again named the club’s Best Player in Finals.

Polling 26 votes in the 2015 Brownlow Medal, Mitchell finished in the top three vote-getters for the third time in his career.

On 12 January 2016 the World Anti-Doping Agency found Watson and another 33 Essendon players guilty of taking a prohibited substance during the 2012 AFL season, an AFL commission meeting in November 2016 determined the implications for the 2012 Brownlow Medal.

On 15 November 2016, Mitchell and Cotchin were both retrospectively awarded the medal, and, on 13 December 2016, both were formally presented with the Medals in a private ceremony in Melbourne.

On 12 October 2016, news broke that Mitchell, at Hawthorn's request, was considering a move to and he was officially traded to West Coast two days later.

Following his retirement in 2017, Mitchell remained with West Coast as an assistant coach in 2018.

In 2019, Mitchell returned to Hawthorn as the midfield coach before becoming head of development and senior coach of Hawthorn's VFL affiliate team, the Box Hill Hawks in 2021.

In July 2021, Hawthorn appointed Mitchell as the next senior coach, taking over from Alastair Clarkson at the end of the 2021 season.

A product of Mooroolbark, in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs, Mitchell played in the under 18 TAC Cup competition with the Eastern Ranges.