Geelong draftee Mitch Hardie plots ‘long term’ stay with Cats

After a training session, Mitch Hardie would reach for the runners and go again, pounding through another run on the pavement. It was all part of his rise to being drafted by Geelong.

Mitch Hardie (left) hunts the ball. Picture: SANFL Image/David Mariuz

Mitch Hardie would finish training, get home and reach for the runners.

A half-forward throughout his state league days in the NEAFL and SANFL, Hardie had excelled when thrown into the midfield late in 2022 by his Woodville-West Torrens coach Jade Sheedy.

The coach and player sat down after that season and it was made clear to Hardie he could play in the middle, but he needed to become fitter.

So Hardie fell in love with running.

Hardie put in the hard yards. Picture: Russell Millard Photography

“It was a frank conversation but it was a conversation (Sheedy) is always willing to have to improve and get the best out of people,” he said.

“I did a lot of different things but I think for me it was falling in love with the running and the grind of running outside of what I was doing at training.

“It got to the point where I was training in the afternoon and going home and putting on the runners and scampering out on the pavement for another 5-6km.

“There was a lot of stamping the pavement.”

Hardie powered through the biggest pre-season of his life and saw the results immediately, as he dominated the opening rounds of the SANFL and dew attention from AFL recruiters, including Geelong.

As the season continued, Hardie spoke to Geelong but was given no concrete sign he would be taken by the Cats in last Wednesday’s mid-season draft.

But it wasn’t until Sheedy called him out in front of his Eagles teammates at training that his world changed, having minutes earlier been drafted by Geelong.

The new Cat flew to Victoria on Thursday and was walked through his new office before his Geelong teammates took him out for a steak to welcome him to town.

“(Sheedy) said something about me missing a ground ball and I was racking my brain as to when that happened and he was saying to come out the front (of the group) and said ‘you’ve been drafted to the Cats’,” Hardie said.

“It was pandemonium really. Having 50 of your best mates jump on top of you, it was one of those moments in life you never forget.”

Hardie planning ‘long term stay’ at Cats

Mid-season draftee Mitch Hardie is planning on a “long term stay” in Geelong as he heeds the lessons of a former teammate.

Hardie was plucked by the Cats in last week’s draft, 12 months after his Woodville-West Torrens teammate Zane Williams.

Mitch Hardie wants to be at Geelong long term. Picture: Image/Russell Millard Photography

Williams only lasted three months with the Cats and was delisted at the end of Geelong’s season without playing an AFL game, with the forward later calling on the AFL to introduce 18-month contracts to give mid-year draftees a chance at settling into the system.

The Cats learnt from last year and appear determined to give Hardie more of an opportunity, after carefully plotting out a draft strategy with its end-of-season list position in mind.

“Seeing Zane come over here and do what he did last year was incredible for him and he is such a great person and a great mate and I have so much respect for him and what he was able to do,” Hardie said.

“There are lessons learned from everything in life and I’m sure he took plenty of lessons away from last year and I think Geelong learned some lessons from last year too.

“They have been open and honest about that (last year) and I think that is such a great thing about them as the Geelong footy club, they have come in with a different approach and plan and with the end game of hopefully being a long term stay here.

“That is what I am hoping to achieve and speaking to them, that is what they are hoping too.”

Zane Williams. Picture Dean Martin

Having been drafted at age 25 and with Geelong facing an injury crisis in its midfield, there was talk Hardie would be plugged straight into the Cats line-up.

But he didn’t play in the VFL on the weekend and that injury list should shorten after Geelong’s bye with Patrick Dangerfield, Max Holmes and Mitch Duncan all closing in on a return.

“At the moment (an AFL debut) certainly isn’t a focus at all, it is just about getting in and meeting everyone and getting the respect of everyone around you,” Hardie said.

“I haven’t put a timeline or any real pressure on myself to be playing AFL footy straight away. Obviously that is the end goal but really now is about just getting in and earning the trust and respect of the group.”

Originally published as Geelong draftee Mitch Hardie plots ‘long term’ stay with Cats