Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn: Mitchell Lewis. Extended to 2026!

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I’d be surprised if Lewis plays in WA after the bye. The flight back isn’t ideal recovery for his chronic knee pain.

Gunston has a few credits from his 3 weeks prior to the Richmond game. So either he keeps his spot or Scaife could be given a debut if he’s flying across with the team anyway.

Save Lewis for Geelong.
 
I’d be surprised if Lewis plays in WA after the bye. The flight back isn’t ideal recovery for his chronic knee pain.

Gunston has a few credits from his 3 weeks prior to the Richmond game. So either he keeps his spot or Scaife could be given a debut if he’s flying across with the team anyway.

Save Lewis for Geelong.
Agree, but an easy kill (I know I am tempting fate) would be nice for Mitch!

Just stretch out in business. He'll be right ;)
 
I’d be surprised if Lewis plays in WA after the bye. The flight back isn’t ideal recovery for his chronic knee pain.

Gunston has a few credits from his 3 weeks prior to the Richmond game. So either he keeps his spot or Scaife could be given a debut if he’s flying across with the team anyway.

Save Lewis for Geelong.
I reckon he has to come in for Gunston if he’s fit. He’ll have to manage his recovery just like every one else.

Would rather he gets back into the swing of things as soon as possible.
 

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İt'd be strange if Lewis is selected to play in Perth considering he only played a half at BH. With no games this week I'd be surprised if he gets the call up with so little game time.
The idea was always to play Lewis post bye with some game time and the bye for continuity and training loads. If he’s deemed fit he’ll play.
 
I’ll be very interested in the chemistry between Chol and Lewis. I expect we will see a dip in form from Chol as we look to another genuine target. But once they click it will be excellent to have two quality key talls. And the smalls will thrive even more.
 
I mean he will displace him, but I hate this.

Gunston will have games where he won't get near it, where he doesn't apply enough defensive pressure, but he will at the very minimum take his man away from the ball to create space for other talls. I feel like Mitch will suck his man into a Dear or Chol contest.
 
I mean he will displace him, but I hate this.

Gunston will have games where he won't get near it, where he doesn't apply enough defensive pressure, but he will at the very minimum take his man away from the ball to create space for other talls. I feel like Mitch will suck his man into a Dear or Chol contest.
Until they learn and adapt to each other I’m sure they will endure some hiccups but Lewis is a certified gun and is a star of a player. He is the first picked in the forward 50 when fit, and people are downplaying his leadership, he’s a massive leader.
 
I mean he will displace him, but I hate this.

Gunston will have games where he won't get near it, where he doesn't apply enough defensive pressure, but he will at the very minimum take his man away from the ball to create space for other talls. I feel like Mitch will suck his man into a Dear or Chol contest.
Yeah I wonder whether Chol will go more up the ground if Mitch comes in. His field kicking is excellent.

But bloody hell I am loving his pressure close to goal…hmmm
 

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I mean he will displace him, but I hate this.

Gunston will have games where he won't get near it, where he doesn't apply enough defensive pressure, but he will at the very minimum take his man away from the ball to create space for other talls. I feel like Mitch will suck his man into a Dear or Chol contest.
I'm not super concerned about this. A highlight of Mitch's play when he's at his best is his running ability. There were games he covered 14 - 15km and spent 90% or more time on the ground, which is something that Chol isn't capable of. If he needs to get out of the area he can and will.

That said, I think Mitch worrying about getting in Chol and Dear's space is a bit of the tail wagging the dog. At full fitness he's our best forward, should be the other way round.
 
I like the posts above questioning his return’s impact on Chol.

It’s no doubt Chol has been our best forward this year - and part of that is from the belief our coaching staff and players have in him. I also feel like he loves being “the guy” for his team.

Gunners is a fantastic guy to have next to him as he knows his role and teaches Chol at the same time. I counted a handful of times on the weekend I saw Gunners actively directing Chol on running and leading patterns.

Lewis is without doubt a better player (now) than Gunners. But is he happy to share the responsibility with Chol?

Will be interesting to watch.
 
I mean he will displace him, but I hate this.

Gunston will have games where he won't get near it, where he doesn't apply enough defensive pressure, but he will at the very minimum take his man away from the ball to create space for other talls. I feel like Mitch will suck his man into a Dear or Chol contest.
100%
But more packs = more crumbs.

Wiz.
 
People concerned about Lewis' impact on Chol are kidding themselves.

Sure, there might be a few contests where they are both involved and 'get in each others way', but in general play Chol will have the no2 defender instead of no1.

Alternatively, if Lewis uses his running power to get involved in transition at half-forward, he'll either drag the no1 defender out of the zone, or be marked up by someone much smaller than him

Not many teams have two tall defenders who can successfully defend 100kg+/200cm players.

The flow on effect is that Dear will then have the 3rd tall defender who he should be able to easily out-mark.

Worst case scenario, the ball comes to ground and Moorey and the Wiz get to work.
 
Will Lewis be able to cover the ground like he used to with his knee issues?
Max Gawn has had multiple recos and is one of the best runners in the game, same with Riewoldt and Richo back in the day. Generally won't impact your ability to cover ground once you're recovered.
 
Max Gawn has had multiple recos and is one of the best runners in the game, same with Riewoldt and Richo back in the day. Generally won't impact your ability to cover ground once you're recovered.

I must be an exception then (yes I'm aware I'm not a professional athlete and all).

Lewis has had persistent issues though, so I'm not expecting him to be able to come right back into the side and start covering 15kms per game.
 
Will Lewis be able to cover the ground like he used to with his knee issues?
Max Gawn has had multiple recos and is one of the best runners in the game, same with Riewoldt and Richo back in the day. Generally won't impact your ability to cover ground once you're recovered.

Depends on what his specific injury is.

Recovery from ACL is mostly about stability in the joint itself. Additionally, you need to ensure the hamstring where the graft was taken from is able to take the running load. Though hamstring issues are usually more from burst/speed rather than distance covered.

If the issue is more related to meniscus/cartilage damage - then that is a different story. That is where repeated use (i.e. Kms covered) can be a problem.

That being said, I'm unsure of what Lewis' specific issue is. It could be a combination of both, though he didn't need to actually graft repair his ACL, so the hamstring comment can be ignored for him.
 
I must be an exception then (yes I'm aware I'm not a professional athlete and all).

Lewis has had persistent issues though, so I'm not expecting him to be able to come right back into the side and start covering 15kms per game.
Definitely not straight away, with you there, but I think it's mostly on fitness.

Most footy players get access to medical help we could only dream of, and financially incentivised to do everything right from a recovery perpsective.
 
I think for any potential new addition to the starting 23 from here on in the most important factor is they have to be fully fit and ready to go.

We have suffered in recent years when we have selected players (Wingate, etc) who were clearly not fit/uninjured due to lack of depth in the squad.

But we have depth now and the current 23 are killing it so we don't need to rush anyone back in.

Obviously Lewis when is his fit and in form is one of the best key forwards going but he looked a long way from being fit at the start of this year. I personally want to see him prove his ability to run a game out in the VFL first and I think we have the squad depth (especially with Dears arrival) to do that.
 
What if we gave him an exit row seat?
I'd assume he'd get that or some other seat upgrade regardless.

I'm just thinking from the perspective that he's only played half a game in the last 2.5 months due to hamstring soreness and chronic knee pain. The West Coast game is Sunday twilight and then we've got to make the flight back and prepare for the Geelong game down in Geelong off a 6 day break. I'm no expert on the effects of a 3.5 hour flight on an athlete's recovery but I'm sure it's far from ideal for a player in this context - but perhaps as a once off it's negligible?

The only reason I see to play him against the Eagles is if he comes back from the bye and trains every session without issue and the club thinks it's important for him to build some cohesion with the other forwards ahead of the Cats game.

I'll be happy to see him named and play against the Eagles. I'll just be surprised and nervous as I see a lot more downside than upside.
 

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Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn: Mitchell Lewis. Extended to 2026!

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