AFLPA MVP: Tom Mitchell caps stunning season with peer award as Trent Cotchin voted best captain
IT was the season that broke records, and Tom Mitchell’s stellar year has been recognised by his peers, who voted the star Hawk the AFL Players’ Association Most Valuable Player. EVERY AWARD
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IT was the season that broke records, and Tom Mitchell’s stellar year has been recognised by his peers.
Mitchell, 25, was tonight voted as the AFL Players’ Association Most Valuable Player after a season that included notching 50 or more disposals on two occasions.
The Hawk was joined in the awards by Tiger Trent Cotchin (best captain), Cat Tim Kelly (best first year player) and Giant Callan Ward (most courageous), held at Basement @ 191 Collins St, Melbourne.
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Mitchell — who has averaged more than 35 disposals per game this season — claimed the Leigh Matthews Trophy ahead of Carlton’s Patrick Cripps and All-Australian ruck Max Gawn.
The Hawk tonight revealed that he had drawn on two-time Brownlow medallist Greg Williams — who also claimed two AFLPA MVP awards — in an effort to combat the extra attention that was thrown his way by opposition teams.
“I’ve had a lot of people in my corner that have experienced similar things and gone through similar situations,” Mitchell said.
“Greg Williams has been a bit of a mentor for me over the years away from the footy club and at the footy club, (assistant coach) Brett Ratten is another one who throughout his career experienced it as well, so he’s been a great person to bounce off.”
He also credited coach Alastair Clarkson for the role he had played in accelerating his game.
“The biggest thing he’s done is build a lot of belief in me as a player,” he said.
“He’s been one of the great coaches of the game and to have him in my corner and backing me in every week is where my improvement has come from.”
Mitchell made the trip from Cape Schanck for last night’s awards after Hawthorn travelled to the Mornington Peninsula to get together and “talk about experiences and reflecting on the season” before the finals campaign.
Mitchell’s last final was the 2016 Grand Final, when his former team Sydney fell short of the Western Bulldogs.
And he is determined to earn a different result.
“It is definitely a motivating factor for me,” he said.
“I’d love to be in the Grand Final again, but we know they’re not easy to make so it’s going to take a lot of hard work in the next month, but I think we can do it.”
AFLPA president Patrick Dangerfield — who alongside Mitchell, was selected in the All Australian team on Wednesday night — said the Hawk’s ability to deliver on a consistent basis went a long way to boosting his club’s premiership aspirations.
“Tom has been in rare touch this year, highlighted by his incredible ability to get from contest to contest and win a truckload of footy throughout the season,” Dangerfield said of the Brownlow Medal favourite.
“He may seem like an unassuming figure off the field but he is as competitive as anyone on the park.
“He’s been the league’s most consistent performer and a massive factor in Hawthorn’s resurgence into a premiership contender.”
Cripps also lauded Mitchell this week.
“Every week, he seems to get 40-odd and it’s bloody hard to get 30, let alone 40,” he said.
“He’s had a terrific year.”
Mitchell is the hottest favourite to win this year’s Brownlow medal, having surged to short odds midway through the season.
The players voted reigning premiership captain Cotchin as the competition’s best leader.
Cotchin, 28, was a runaway winner of the game’s best captain award, ahead of West Coast skipper Shannon Hurn and Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury.
The Tigers star — who coach Damien Hardwick last week likened to a “battering ram” — said he had learnt a lot in his “challenging” years as Tigers’ captain.
“I think leadership is born out of the culture and I’m just very lucky that I have a number of teammates that have grown and shown signs of growing over the last few years,” Cotchin said.
“Our staff, our coaches … they’re all tremendous people that guide me but also allow others to grow.
“It’s thrown up different challenges, but both massive learning years.”
The midfielder re-signed until at least the end of 2022 earlier this month and had his leadership qualities lauded by Tigers football boss Neil Balme.
“Trent is everything we could ask for as the captain of our football club,” Balme said upon the contract news.
“His leadership and care for his teammates, as well as the courageous way he plays the game is just exceptional.
“He leads by example with his talent and toughness on-field, and his maturity and authenticity off-field. We’re lucky to have him leading our playing group.”
Kelly, 24, was overlooked in five drafts before being picked up by the Cats at the end of last season, and has played every game this season and averaged more than 23 disposals per game.
He was overwhelmingly anointed by his peers ahead of Magpie Jaidyn Stephenson and young Lion Cam Rayner.
Giants co-captain Callan Ward was recognised with the Robert Rose Award as the AFLPA’s most courageous player.
Ward who joked that he had picked up the nickname “cement” for his tough head when he played at the Bulldogs.
“I think showing courage on the football field is something that comes naturally to most players,” Ward said.
“I think from a young age, I was taught to play football in that manner.”
Ward said the year had thrown up significant challenges for the Giants and that he was “really proud” of how the group had rolled with what was dealt to it.
And he knows exactly what they need to dish up over the next few weeks after falling short in two straight preliminary finals in recent years.
“I’ve learned that the brand of football you need to play in finals needs to be a high-intensity, ferocious, high-pressure tackling game,” he said.
VOTING PROCESS
■ MVP voting is a two-stage process, beginning with each player voting for the three teammates he considers to have been the most valuable this season.
■ Each club’s votes are then tallied to form a nomination list comprising 54 players across the 18 teams.
■ In the second round of voting, all players vote for their MVP on a 3, 2, 1 basis from the nominees of the 17 other clubs.
■ The votes are tallied and the player with the highest score wins the honour of MVP.
■ Players cannot vote for their own teammates in stage two of the process.
■ A similar process is followed for Best First Year Player and Most Courageous, but every captain is automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.
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