Sam Mitchell to return to work on Monday after New York health scare

Sam Mitchell is still in New York after a pneumonia scare, but thanks to some past and present Hawthorn board members guiding his recovery, he’s set to make a return to work soon.

Present and past board members played crucial roles in guiding Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell through his pneumonia scare and he is expected to return to work on Monday.

Physician and club director Anne-Marie Pellizzer and former board member Andrew Kaye, a neurosurgeon, stepped in to organise the best care for Mitchell when he was admitted to a New York hospital last month while holidaying in the United States.

Hawthorn football boss Rob McCartney also paid tribute to Mitchell’s wife Lyndall, who cared for the ill coach while also travelling with three children.

Mitchell is due to fly back from the United States this weekend.

“We were concerned obviously because he was in a foreign country and we couldn’t provide the support that we would have if he was in Melbourne,” McCartney said.

“We were really lucky. We have a current board member in Anne-Marie Pellizzer and a former board member in Andrew Kaye who played quite a significant role in mobilising the right support on the ground in New York.

Sam Mitchell has been stuck in New York with pneumonia. Picture: Michael Klein

“We were comfortable when we had those things in place. I keep going back to Lyndall and the role that she played in terms of supporting him – we had the right people around him.”

Mitchell spoke with McCartney on Wednesday as his players returned to training and has gradually become more involved in the pre-season program as he has recovered.

McCartney said “the vibrancy is back” in Mitchell’s voice and he was “looking as trim as he could be”.

“Maybe the mid-season draft is something he could hope for,” he joked.

The Hawks plan to have him in the club early in each week and let him rest as the week progresses, with no timeline in place for him to be back full-time.

Experienced assistant coaches Brett Ratten, David Hale and Andy Collins, alongside defensive coach Kade Simpson, will shepherd through training until Mitchell is back.

Hawthorn marked a return to training on Wednesday with a time trial and intense ball movement drills.

Mitchell is in charge of an exciting rebuild at Hawthorn. Picture: Getty Images

“We have just found that we can manage without having an interim senior coach,” McCartney said.

“I think at this time of the year when you aren’t playing games, you do a lot of planning pre-Christmas around what this first week looks like to everybody really knows what they are doing and we put a lot of ownership back on our players to take some real control of our future.

“In typical Sam fashion, as he has got better, his influence with what is going on and what we are going to do has become more and more.

“He is definitely on the improve and part of that is making sure that he does get that time to recover and that he can get back to being the person he was before Christmas and the person who was starting to guide what we think will be an exciting time for the football club.”

Originally published as Sam Mitchell to return to work on Monday after New York health scare