Hawthorn forward Mitchell Lewis wins Round 18 AFL NAB Rising Star nomination
He is ticking off his pre-season goals, playing regular senior footy and just earned a Rising Star nomination. But there is something still bugging Hawthorn youngster Mitchell Lewis.
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Mitchell Lewis can’t help but “feel bad”.
The young Hawthorn key forward was taken under the wing of former captain Jarryd Roughead last pre-season, the pair virtually “joined at the hip” as they completed “every drill and every weights session together”.
Now Lewis has now taken the four-time premiership veteran’s spot in the Hawks’ side, with Roughead relegated to the VFL.
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“I do feel bad, but the type of guy Roughie is he pretty much sends me a text message after every game just saying how proud he is of me,” Lewis said.
“He loves to see me do well and he’s got that same attitude with all of the young guys. He loves to see the team doing well and he’s a great guy and awesome personality.”
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Lewis, who played two games on debut last season, set himself a goal of featuring in 10 AFL matches this year.
The 20-year-old has ticked off nine and does not look like getting dropped after earning the Round 18 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination.
The mobile key forward gathered 15 disposals and kicked three goals against Geelong on Sunday and has now kicked at least one goal in every game this year, including 10 in the past four weeks.
“I’ve been working a lot on my consistency throughout games and to kick a goal in each game is good but the last three weeks I feel like I haven’t really had a really quiet quarter, it’s just been a consistent output,” Lewis said.
“That’s really important for me and my peace of mind, to know that I can produce four-quarter efforts on a consistent basis.”
Lewis is listed at 198cm and 95kg, but is a little bigger than that after putting on “five or six” kilos across his first full pre-season last summer.
“I’m probably consistently 98-100kg and that’s where I want to stay,” he said.
While he has added muscle, he has dropped his golf handicap since joining the Hawks with Pick 76 in the 2016 national draft.
Lewis now plays off scratch, leaving him as the equal-best golfer at the Hawks alongside injured defender Tim Mohr.
“I still get out for a hit maybe once a fortnight,” Lewis said.
“He (Mohr) has been able to spend a fair bit of time on golf the last little while, not playing footy.
“We’ve played quite a lot and guys like James Sicily try to keep up but he’s not quite up to the standard of Big Bear (Mohr) just yet.”
Originally published as Hawthorn forward Mitchell Lewis wins Round 18 AFL NAB Rising Star nomination
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