Tom Mitchell ranked 28th best player in AFL by Champion Data
Brownlow Medallist Tom Mitchell’s record-breaking form has failed to earn him selection in Champion Data’s best 25 players with Patrick Dangerfield ranked the No.1 player ahead of Dustin Martin and Lance Franklin.
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Brownlow Medallist Tom Mitchell’s record-breaking form has failed to earn him selection in Champion Data’s best 25 players.
The Herald Sun can reveal that the AFL’s official number cruncher has ranked 27 players ahead of Mitchell in its official profiles for 2019.
Mitchell, 25, has secured back-to-back Hawthorn best-and-fairests and All-Australian honours since crossing from Sydney after the 2016 Grand Final.
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The ball magnet smashed the disposals record in the 2017 home-and-away season and then pipped Greg Williams’ single-game record when he accumulated 54 touches in Round 1 this year.
Mitchell was also awarded the AFL Players’ Association MVP this year and placed runner-up in the 2017 Brownlow.
But Champion Data’s scientific formula, which assesses performances over the past two years using a weighted system, only ranked Mitchell No.28.
The prolific ball winner’s three Brownlow Medal predecessors all featured in the top five; Patrick Dangerfield (2016 winner) was No.1, Dustin Martin (2017) No.2 and Nat Fyfe (2015) No.4.
Mitchell was placed in the same bracket as Alex Rance, Shaun Higgins, Shane Edwards and Orazio Fantasia.
But Mitchell’s chart was tracking the right way.
At the halfway mark of 2018 Champion Data had Mitchell ranked at about No.50 in the AFL.
Mitchell’s brilliant second half of the season was deemed the fourth-best by a midfielder and had him ranked in the AFL’s top 15 players.
That form helped shoot Mitchell’s overall ranking to No.28.
If that trend continues Mitchell is expected to join Champion Data’s elite bunch in 2019.
While Mitchell has always been a high possession winner, Champion Data said his impact on games grew as season 2018 progressed.
Mitchell - who has recorded 50 disposals three times as a Hawk - told the Herald Sun he was desperate to keep building his game,
“I tried to make improvements in a number of areas, and that started in pre-season,” Mitchell said in September.
“It’s an overall progression, whether that be my athletic ability in terms of my running strength and also my skills.”