NEW BOY ON THE BLOCK

The mature age recruit with a powerful left foot was blooded on  Footscray VFL's list last year and drafted with Melbourne's first pick in the high 40s. It was an inspirational selection as the high marking forward who can find the goals was easily club's best first year player. 

Date of Birth: 9 March, 1994

Height: 189cm

Weight: 81kg

Games MFC 2017: 20

Career Total: 20

Goals MFC 2017: 22

Career Total: 22

 

Season 2017 AFL Statistics

Kicks: 138

Handballs: 110

Disposals: 248

Marks: 49

Scores: 22 goals 10 behinds

Goal Assists: 11

Tackles: 60

Hitouts: 0

Clearances: 23

Clangers: 56

Inside 50s: 52

Rebound 50s: 4

Frees For: 21

Frees Against: 13

he has, as they say, some 'tricks' to the way he plays

he cracks in, he can mark, he's a nice kick, and there's a heap to like about him as a player

apart from the game where he was clearly hampered with injury, he was also remarkably consistent

he can play tall and small, and there's a heap to like about him

definitely an astute selection at the draft - the question is now, as a mature ager, how good can he get?

Has a rare sense of knowing where the goals are. When he throws it on his boot it almost always goes through.

Will continue to improve hardto match up and uncanny sense of goal

Very quick decision maker which I like

Needs to improve consistency of effort 

Can go missing.

Love his pressure and defensive acts.

At times, has the presence of a key forward despite not being big enough to be considered one. Love his courage in the air and has that little bit of X factor. Here's hoping the upward trajectory continues.

Look at some of those stats.  22 goals for the year.  60 tackles.  23 clearances.  First year player.

If Mitch was 18, we'd all have done our bits over this bloke.

An 'in progress' 

doing quite ok...has some better moments...has a few...where'd he go ones too.

Do I dare utter...another preseason and continued development 

Like to see him continue on his upward path

A revelation up forward with his uncanny ability to crumb the ball and snap a goal within seconds. I'd love to see a compilation of the countless times he did that during the season.

He goes missing a bit during games but a very encouraging debut season. He missed a good chunk of the pre-season with a shoulder injury, so with any luck, he'll only get better with a full one under his belt.

 

Bulldogs mate was very sorry to see him go

Old style effective player didnt suit the modern doggies

Bet they wish he was back now

Agree with most above - he has an uncanny ability to find the goals in traffic and had a few cameo performances during the year where he was able to kick a few in quick succession.

He has a bit of work to do on his game though, but hopefully with greater fitness and senior AFL experience he can can stay involved in games more consistently.

Mitch has some very solid football qualities, combined with a handfull of exciting traits, which complement our likely forward setup very well.  If he can  manage to be 'in the play' by (say) +15%, he will become an extremely valuable member of our best 22, a la Luke Breust in the top Hawthorn teams.

A great year. A clever and unique player. Very aware of who's around him when he has possession. Great forward pressure, good hands, good decision maker and great kick. He also seems to have a good temperament. 

Certainly exceeded expectations to play games early and be a solid contributor in most of them. He fell away in the second half of the year as presumably he started to feel the effects of a long, hard season.

As others have said, the question is how much better can he get? There is a lot of natural talent there, so hopefully a fair bit of improvement still remains.

He badly needs to reduce the gap between his best & worst football, because he had far too many quarters & halves where he just disappeared completely. 

Certainly exceeded expectations to play games early and be a solid contributor in most of them. He fell away in the second half of the year as presumably he started to feel the effects of a long, hard season.

As others have said, the question is how much better can he get? There is a lot of natural talent there, so hopefully a fair bit of improvement still remains.

He badly needs to reduce the gap between his best & worst football, because he had far too many quarters & halves where he just disappeared completely. Hopefully that can come with another pre season and some more experience.

He seemed to fade out towards the back end of the year . With a big preseason he has room for improvement and take his game to another level. Overall he had a great season.

He won that game against the saints for us. Was just bobbled up when the game was in the balance and looked 2 telling goals.

Great first season. Hope he can improve again next season.

Wonderful debut season given the lack to pre season and year one on the list!

Would you take Hannan, Townsend or Castagna at Round 1 next year? I think Hannan, which tells me he can play a role in a Premiership team.

now I'd like to see Fritsch alongside him!!

Go Dees.

Great find, will done to the recruiting staff.Will only get better with this season under his belt. 

On 28/09/2017 at 7:49 PM, Adzman said:

He won that game against the saints for us. Was just bobbled up when the game was in the balance and looked 2 telling goals.

Great first season. Hope he can improve again next season.

Yep. Has a Nick Davis quality about him. Even when he's not doing much, you just like having him around. He bobbed up at random moments and his goals always either stemmed the opposition's momentum, got us going, helped seal a win, or a combination of the three. 

He's a natural and a keeper.

Hi all! For those who don't know, I edit together Melbourne highlight reels and upload them to YouTube.

I'm happy to say that Mitch Hannan was next on my list! I simply couldn't get enough of that blink and you'll miss it ball to boot action that snared him many of his goals this season. 

Enjoy!

On the topic of shamless plugs, be sure to like The Mighty Demons Facebook page for more bits and pieces that I'll upload in the lead up to round 1: https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyDemons/

I had forgotten how quick his hands are below his knees.  My recollection of Hannan last years was as more of a marking small-forward.  If he can get involved in games for longer and not drift in and out, we'll have an absolute gem!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks Hannan is 'one to watch' for 2018.

Not a mega-breakout like Oliver, and wont become prolific in a stats and supercoach sense, but with Watts' departure opening up more 'space' around the forward and half forward area, and  two hard working tall marking targets to work with, he can be a priceless extra dimension. That versatile, unpredictable medium-tall forward who can make a contribution in any situation, from offering a lead to a surprise leap to persistent hunting to a mad scamble at the top of the square.

Great player to have. Those quick snaps are great fun too.

Rich man's Jeremy Howe.