‘He backs us all in’: Sam Mitchell has Hollywood Hawks back on the big stage and in the flag hunt

1 day ago 4

Adelaide: It may have been a boring movie for the neutral, but the Hollywood Hawks hit the Crows like a cyclone on Friday night.

And there were Academy Award winners everywhere you looked.

Jai Newcombe, the man the entire competition overlooked for so long, was devastatingly good in the middle of the ground. The only midfielder who may have played a better game was Josh Ward, who the coach thought played the best game of his life.

The evergreen Jack Gunston wound back the clock with five big goals.

And captain James Sicily put in another workman-like shift, in a supporting role alongside big-boy recruits Tom Barrass and Josh Battle.

And then there’s Josh Weddle – the 191-centimetre defender-wingman who may just be the most important of them all. He’s fast, he’s agile, he can jump and he can kick, although he didn’t kick well on Friday, booting 1.3.

“Yeah, I think I need some goal kicking lessons from Gunners,” he said with a laugh after the game. Luckily, it didn’t matter. But it might next week against Geelong in a preliminary final.

There’s an evenness to this Hawthorn team that makes them both fascinating and dangerous. They’re the team that no one wants to play, but everyone wants to know more about.

The man pulling the strings, Sam Mitchell, is ironically the one who least likes to talk about himself. He was on the field the last time Hawthorn played Geelong in a final in 2016.

“Thanks for bringing that up,” Mitchell quipped in his post-match media conference (they lost by two points).

So what makes Mitchell such a good coach?

“Personally for me, and he does it for others, he trusts us,” Weddle told this masthead.

“He gives me belief in my own game – he does it for all of us. He gives me confidence when I go out there that whatever I do, [I] hope and believe it’s the right decision.

“If I do make a mistake, he looks at me and says, ‘Wedds, you’re better than that’.

“And that’s completely fair. But he gives me the confidence to do my thing and take the game on. And for everyone else, it’s the same thing – he backs us all in.

“Everyone in the team has their own weapons. That’s what he tells us. He tells us to go out there and use our weapons. So for me, it’s my run, my speed and my aerial contests. And for other guys, say like Jarsy [Jarman Impey], it’s his run and carry off half-back. Or for Sis [James Sicily], it’s his ability to impact contests.

“He gets the most out of every individual’s ability. His smarts and his IQ of the game and what we need is always the right thing.”

Jarman Impey, Sam Mitchell and Jai Newcombe belt out their song.

They’re telling words from a man born in 2004. To put that into context, Mitchell was playing his third season at Hawthorn in 2004 at a time when coaches weren’t exactly famous for encouraging players not to be scared of making mistakes.

The man, himself, was quick to deflect when asked about the evolution of his coaching style.

“I’m not really assessing my coaching right now, if I’m honest,” Mitchell said sternly.

“I think every coach tries to get the best out of their players in the way they see fit.

“It’s pretty easy for Josh Weddle to use his weapons – he’s got a few of them.”

Weddle missed eight weeks of football with a back injury, after stress fractures were picked up on a scan. He admitted it was a worrying time, including a two-week period where he had convinced himself he wasn’t going to play again this season.

“I was just sitting at training on the bike every day – just ticking the legs over, getting a sweat out, watching the boys train through the glass,” he said.

“It was a tough time, but I had a few guys in the rehab group that got me through it, so I’m very grateful for that.”

The 21-year-old also reflected on the difficult period being made more stressful by the fact he decided to move out of home with Mum and Dad, and move in with teammate Dylan Moore.

“Yeah, [it’s] pretty funny looking back on that, that I decided to do it the week before the GWS final,” he smiled.

“But, it’s all worked out.”

And it’s all worked out for the Hawks, who find themselves in their first preliminary final in 10 years.

That match in 2015 was a 27-point win against Ross Lyon’s Fremantle at Subiaco.

Best on ground that day? He had eight more disposals than anyone on the ground. Yep, Mitchell.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.