New Demon Brody Mihocek opens up on his Collingwood departure
Brody Mihocek knew Collingwood’s list demographic would ultimately end his career earlier than he would’ve liked – but it didn’t make the contract impasse any easier to take.
New Melbourne forward Brody Mihocek admits Collingwood’s modest one-year offer hit him hard as he eventually moved to the Demons after concerns the Pies’ list demographic might cut his career short.
The 32-year-old on Friday admitted the club’s long list of plus-30 players made him aware his career might be coming to a close if he remained at Collingwood.
Instead, he has a new two year deal at the Demons and a determination to play well past that contract at Melbourne.
The free agent was eventually traded to Melbourne to preserve its Charlie Spargo free agency compensation, with the Demons handing over a third-round pick and pick 71 for Mihocek and pick 61.
Mihocek told the Herald Sun he was thrilled to mentor young key forwards like Jacob Van Rooyen and not fussed that the club is about to lose Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca.
Premiership player Mihocek eventually postponed his contract talks with the Pies even after they handed him a two-year offer, but admitted it was a challenging period in his eight-year AFL career.
“I still question what the motive was (to move) but I just think I needed a change,” he told the Herald Sun.
“I know with the Pies list when I was going through contract talks with them they were worried about the age demographic. I know at 32 that isn’t old but I wanted to tell them that I had many more years left in me and they still kept to that narrative.”
“I didn’t want to sign one year there or possibly two and then have that age demographic lingering over me and I just thought I needed to get out of there and explore new things.
“I wanted to meet new people and see what another program is like and try to bring leadership.
“The initial one year contract from them hit me hard. Then you have to go out there and lean on your manager to tell you what you are worth. Jamie Elliott had the same process when he was offered one year to go out and see what was out there.
“I was comfortable to hold off and wait until the end of the season and nothing was set in stone. But I was leaving towards learning which is a difficult way to play out the rest of the season. It was something I had to deal with and there wasn’t a day that went by that I wasn’t thinking about it.”
Mihocek does not believe the contract impasse affected his form but conceded it could have been handled better with the benefit of hindsight.
“With the outside interest and the media, who knows if the Darcy (contract situation) was a thing but it does play on your mind. It was new for me and I could have handled myself better. I had chats with (football boss) Charlie Gardiner and I said being 32 you are allowed to come up to me and have hard conversations, even in the thick of finals. It is fine to have tough conversations and it does take the weight off your shoulders. So some things could have been done differently but I wouldn’t say it affected my football at all. It affected me but I still showed up there for two hours every weekend and I gave it my all.”
Mihocek battled through the preliminary final with a dislocated toe that had ligament damage as the Pies came up short of the decider.
“I dislocated the middle toe and there was a stretched ligament with a muscle tear in the plantar plate. I tried to deal with the pain and get through finals. It’s still sore but now I have finished it will take time to heal but it will come good.
“Things are changing and I have seen some of my good mates leave over the years and you wonder if it’s the best fit or whether you will be happy but the presentation the Demons gave me is they have a young and exciting list and they are ready to give some midfield time to some guys who really want it and I know if we get a good system in with Steven King, we will get going.”
ANALYSIS: What Mihocek trade really means for ‘dysfunctional’ Dees
Brody Mihocek arrives at Melbourne as a very rare breed indeed.
He is a key forward who moves to a rival with his actual goal tally largely irrelevant to how we measure his success in the next two seasons.
The Pies premiership player kicked a career-best 47 goals in that 2023 campaign and has never failed to hit the scoreboard.
From the moment he arrived at Collingwood the former VFL defender has been hugely consistent – kicking 25 goals or more in every season bar last year’s 11-game campaign.
And even that 25-goal tally came in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, with Mihocek averaging at least 1.4 goals and 1.4 forward 50 marks a game in every season.
The free agent lands on a two-year deal with the Demons having given up almost nothing (to preserve their Charlie Spargo compensation), eventually handing over a future third-rounder and pick 71 but getting back 61.
And yet funnily enough the flow-on effect for Steven King is so much more important than whether Mihocek, 33 in February, kicks 20 or 40 goals next year.
Melbourne’s forward line has been largely dysfunctional for most of the past four years, even if the club felt its ball movement actually improved at times in 2025.
Jacob Van Rooyen should be doing cartwheels to have such a consistent pack-crashing, hard-leading forward who can school him in the art of forward craft.
The WA prospect is one centimetre taller than Mihocek and a decade younger at 22, and his new teammate is exactly the kind of player who he should want to become.
One who is a hugely valuable teammate who has a very small gap between his best and worst games.
One who is valued by his leading patterns, by his ability to bring the ball to ground, by his durability and sheer hardness at the contest.
After two exceptional years of growth with 28 and 30 goals Van Rooyen went backwards in 2025 but now has a forward partner to work off and learn off.
Neither are the new breed of Sam Darcy-style two metre key forwards but by smarts and good timing and good ball flow they are still hugely valuable in the modern game.
One word that comes to mind with Mihocek – selfless.
It is something Bayley Fritsch will hopefully learn from his new teammate and new coach Steven King, who played in so many teams where players like Cam Mooney and Steve Johnson valued the art of the goal assist as much as a goal.
Fritsch has so much talent but can torch an open teammate when he gets the goals in sight.
Not only does Mihocek represent another tall target to give Fritsch a more favoured match-up, he will have in King a coach who should not be afraid to send him back to the VFL if he will not play within team rules.
No one is going to be quaking in their boots playing against Melbourne next year, but with Jake Melksham going around again after a very solid 33-goal season King at least has options.
He doesn’t have to play Harry Petty forward because there is no one else, he can bring Matthew Jefferson along at his own speed.
The club will desperately hope the No. 15 draft pick has a breakout year in him after four goals in seven games but can play him when he deserves it, not when the forward line cupboard is bare.
Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver were part of the problem, not the solution for the Demons forward line given how poorly they kicked the ball inside 50.
And yet there will still be plenty of times next year when a new-look Melbourne outfit will desperately miss them.
What King will bank on is that when Kozzie Pickett, Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay do win the stoppages they kick with precision into a forward line that is highly organised and highly selfless.
It all sounds good on paper.
All list boss Tim Lamb can do is give this forward line the best chance of success and in Mihocek he has a proven winner.
Originally published as New Demon Brody Mihocek opens up on his Collingwood departure
‘It was a shock’: Cox still seeking answers after Pies blindside
