Reviewing the Mitchell trade

I knew this day would come. The day when I’d be ready to review an article I wrote in early 2017 entitled ‘Five reasons why the Mitchell trade is bad for West Coast’.

The West Australian is reporting that Sam Mitchell has advised West Coast officials that he will be heading home to Victoria at the end of the year.

This should come as no surprise. I’ll even venture that he’s likely to land back at the happy club again. Whichever club he lands at will not have to fit him under their salary cap, he won’t require an unfavourable exchange of draft picks and he won’t be delaying a younger player’s career progression.

Before I continue, there is one criticism of my previous article that I’d like to respond to. My previous article emphasized the weaker aspects of Sam Mitchell’s game. In particular, his lack of leg speed and less-than-penetrating kick.

By emphasizing these negative aspects, I created the perception that I didn’t rate Mitchell as a footballer. This is untrue. Sam Mitchell was a very fine footballer. An absolute champion of the game. For the most part, a few errant knees aside, his character is impeccable. AFL history will remember him fondly.

The 2017 Eagles’ woes were not the fault of Mitchell. It was not that Mitchell played poorly.

He played well, perhaps even a little better than expected. The problem was that the Western Bulldogs had just won the 2016 flag with a frantically speedy midfield. The Eagles midfield was not particularly speedy. To add Mitchell to an Eagles midfield already containing Matt Priddis was never going to end well. This was obvious.

As good as Mitchell was, his skill set did nothing to rectify the deficiencies of the 2017 West Coast Eagles. It took a little under half of the season for this to become apparent. Three straight losses prior to the bye laid bare the Eagle problems.

Mark Duffield was the first sportswriter the in the west to note how slow the Eagles midfield was. Many others followed.

The Eagles, like the professional outfit they are, adjusted. There was also an unexpected cost. Eagles champion Matt Priddis agreed to an unplanned exit and Priddis and Mitchell would share less midfield time. The club introduced younger players with mixed results.

At the end of the year, the Eagles had improved enough to stagger into the finals. They caused a massive boil over in Adelaide before GWS thumped the Eagles, ending their difficult season.

(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)

It’s in comparing the Eagles of 2018 with the 2017 outfit that the absence of Mitchell and Priddis is noticeable. Under normal circumstances, if an AFL observer suggested that a team losing two Brownlow medalists from their team would improve they would be struggling for credibility.

Predictably, many AFL analysts had the Eagles in the bottom four this season.

A ten game winning streak is evidence that midfield speed is crucial in the modern game. Admittedly, the return of Nic Naitanui helped but pundits forget that he was very short on match fitness and only played around 60% game time. Furthermore, when Naitanui has been out, the Eagles have continued to be impressive.

They actually played better against Collingwood when he went down.

The Eagles have not blooded any game-changing midfield recruits in 2018. Yet it is brutally clear that the Eagles midfield is better without Priddis and Mitchell. This is because leg speed has become so important in the modern game. One wonders what might have been had Mitchell not played in 2017. I suspect the Eagles would have been a better team last year and an even better team this year.

The acquisition of Mitchell merely delayed the inevitable transition of an Eagles midfield that desperately needed to evolve. To the Eagles credit, it only took them half a season to realise this. This does not absolve the Eagles of the poorly thought out decision to recruit Mitchell in the first place.

Those defending the acquisition of Mitchell will no doubt now turn to the man’s coaching credentials. We don’t yet know if Mitchell can coach. My previous article highlighted this. Many excellent players went on to be failed head coaches. If he was such a great on-field coach, then I’m not sure what happened in the first half of 2017.

(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)

What truly astounds me about the ‘Sam Mitchell can coach’ brigade is the fact that Adam Simpson was Sam Mitchell’s Coach. What is Sam Mitchell bringing that Adam Simpson doesn’t already know? What could he possibly bring? It is maddening.

Now, as the end of the 2018 season comes into view we find that Mitchell, the man West Coast ‘lured’ over here isn’t in it for the long haul. The Eagles have gained nothing tangible from his time here.

The only consolation for Eagles fans is that they do not know, and cannot know, what they might have lost.

The Hawks on the other hand, what have they gained? They have blooded some of their youngsters. If nothing else, they know if they can play or not.

I suspect they are also about to get back one of their favourite sons, who has had a year’s coaching experience in another top-tier sporting organisation. It will cost them nothing.

In sport, despite saying that the way we play the game is important, we often obsess over the winners and losers. Perhaps the biggest winner here is Mitchell himself.

He managed to find a way to play another year and get himself some coaching experience. I wish him a happy future with the happy club.