It is hard to deny the ability of former Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell. Incredible accumulator and an ability to be the key link in important chains has seen him win the game's highest individual accolade.
But as the Hawks look to start a rebuild through a coaching succession, the way Mitchell uses his high-tally of possessions has come under the microscope.
His statistics from Hawthorn's 62-point loss against Fremantle showcase this fact.
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Largely roaming on the outside of the contest, only 10 of his 39 touches were contested. Mitchell also managed to turn the ball over on 10 occasions, allowing Fremantle to rebound and score heavily on the rebound.
Midfield
Disposals
Tackles
Clearances
The stat that emphasises the lack of impact Mitchell's accumulation of the ball had on the game was of his 39 touches, he only had his hand in one passage of play that lead to a score, recording a singular score involvement.
Premiership Port player Kane Cornes stated his worry with the manner Mitchell uses the football, and has related it to a period of his own career where stat padding was a primary focus.
"I was going through a stage of my career where I was chasing kicks, getting cheap handball receives around the back," Cornes said on SEN.
"Phil Walsh called me in and said โwhat weโre going to do now is every Monday youโre going to turn up in my office at 8am and weโre going to watch every single one of your possessions and Iโm going to tell you if it was a damaging possession and challenge you whether that was a damaging possessionโ."
A challenge given to him by an assistant coach and role model, Cornes was able to focus on the quality of his ball use when he was strung up on the quantity. Cornes believes a similar conversation needs to take place for Mitchell to be more damaging.
"Tom Mitchell needs to do that now with Sam Mitchell or with someone at Hawthorn because I watched all 39 (disposals) from the weekend and it was an ineffective game from Tom.
"Midfielders have been there and Iโm telling you I was doing it so itโs not a criticism, but you need someone to challenge you on it."
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Hawthorn are already well on the track of a rebuild with the announcement of a succession plan transition from Alastair Clarkson to Sam Mitchell.
Tom Mitchell needs to be the on-field leader in a now young squad, leading by example with a more damaging and influential brand that can help kick-start the Hawks back on the incline.
Mitchell will need to take the steps to lead from the front by making his own adjustments this weekend, as the Hawks play the top-of-the-table Demons at the MCG.
