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

[TylerDurden]

end of June early July is the safe bet

He did it in r17.
We'll give him 12 months. So July it is.

 

[Faraway Hawk]

Regardless of when he gets back I just hope he gets a nice clean run at it for the rest of his career.

 

[tommyk72]

I still think Mitch Lewis can be transformational to us. You take Mitch at his best and switch Gunston out last season, we're definitely making it past Port. We're probably making Top 4.

The way Mitch moves and gets up the ground when he's playing at his best, his kicking from 50, the way he leads up at the footy. If he can make the type of return from an ACL that Curnow has, this is what we've got to look forward to:



Every part of that highlight reel is the player we were crying out for.

It's a good point. I've wondered how slotting Mitch in will change the dynamic of what ended up being a very strong forward line last year. It would be brilliant if he could play the Gunston role so that we keep an even balance across our targets. If he becomes the #1 go to guy then we become a lot easier to shut down. Will be interesting to see how we structure up.

 

[threesixpio]

I still think Mitch Lewis can be transformational to us. You take Mitch at his best and switch Gunston out last season, we're definitely making it past Port. We're probably making Top 4.

The way Mitch moves and gets up the ground when he's playing at his best, his kicking from 50, the way he leads up at the footy. If he can make the type of return from an ACL that Curnow has, this is what we've got to look forward to:



Every part of that highlight reel is the player we were crying out for.

Yep - and this was part of a team where the midfield was not at end of 24 levels (including Mass in this!) and the forwardline was…pretty average. Would love a fit Lewis for a good 3-4 years. Please god please

 

[threesixpio]

It's a good point. I've wondered how slotting Mitch in will change the dynamic of what ended up being a very strong forward line last year. It would be brilliant if he could play the Gunston role so that we keep an even balance across our targets. If he becomes the #1 go to guy then we become a lot easier to shut down. Will be interesting to see how we structure up.

Yep playing funny buggers is key and Mitch is capable of this ie is mobile enough

 

[SSSSSS]

It's never ideal to have a significant long-term injury but it might be a nice circuit breaker for Mitch to be able to go in the season with a whole lot less pressure on his shoulders and time to rehab his whole body which has been banged up over the years.

It's been a lot of pressure on his shoulders throughout Sammy's rebuild to almost single handedly carry our forward line. He must be itching to get back out there now that we have Chol and Dear doing some heavy lifting.

 

[CHUBBSS]

It's never ideal to have a significant long-term injury but it might be a nice circuit breaker for Mitch to be able to go in the season with a whole lot less pressure on his shoulders and time to rehab his whole body which has been banged up over the years.

It's been a lot of pressure on his shoulders throughout Sammy's rebuild to almost single handedly carry our forward line. He must be itching to get back out there now that we have Chol and Dear doing some heavy lifting.

I’ve watched his highlights when he was fit more then three times since the end of season and if he can get back to that with a Little more experience under his belt we will be wrapped, it’s a long way to go yet

 

[Brant]

It would be brilliant if he could play the Gunston role so that we keep an even balance across our targets. If he becomes the #1 go to guy then we become a lot easier to shut down. Will be interesting to see how we structure up.

Conversely, if he's the #1 guy, he's likely attracting 2x defenders, leaving Chol or Dear with a mismatch or leaving Sicily, Weddle or Hardwick (all Forward) without an opponent.

I'm pretty happy either way!

 

[burner1]

Forward line functioned pretty well without him. Intriguing to see how we go with Lewis fit and back in the mix and how roles are shifted around.

Lewis has a bit of work to do on his ground level pressure and follow up - Dear has set the standard (and Chol raised his game as well).

 

[SSSSSS]

Forward line functioned pretty well without him. Intriguing to see how we go with Lewis fit and back in the mix and how roles are shifted around.

Lewis has a bit of work to do on his ground level pressure and follow up - Dear has set the standard (and Chol raised his game as well).

Chol was the best KPF this season for tackles inside 50. Set the standard for the comp.

 

[MasterSamurai]

2023 vs Collingwood. Watch how Lewis plays up the ground as a proper CHF and has a blinder providing contest in the air and moving freely to help out mids and our half frwds to keep the ball in our F50!! That is the game that made me think that Lewis can easily fit into our frwd mix. Not just a stand and deliver monster frwd but one that has a good understanding of how to play as a CHF. We'd be a absolute headache to deal with if Lewis gets back to that.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

2023 vs Collingwood. Watch how Lewis plays up the ground as a proper CHF and has a blinder providing contest in the air and moving freely to help out mids and our half frwds to keep the ball in our F50!! That is the game that made me think that Lewis can easily fit into our frwd mix. Not just a stand and deliver monster frwd but one that has a good understanding of how to play as a CHF. We'd be a absolute headache to deal with if Lewis gets back to that.

Mitch is an endurance beast, he is often top five in kms covered for us at the end of a game.

I think Mitch's biggest problem is he is too brave for his own good. Sometimes he should maybe be a bit more selective when going for a mark as he puts himself in some very vulnerable positions (like last year when he got absolutely poleaxed down in Geelong).

He is looking in top shape though, fingers crossed he finally gets a decent run at it!

 

[cs61]

We got Chol to help take the load off Lewis, but Mitch was never really able to recover his body to get the benefit of our new forward depth. Now if and when he comes back in he should have at least 2 of Chol, Gunston and Dear playing each week, and also new version of big Meeky drifting down as well. It is an exciting prospect having Lewis fit and primed and also being able to focus on just doing a role than carrying the whole forward line. Watson, Ginnivan, CMac, Moore, Breust etc at his feet... it is a completely different set up to when he came back in 2023.

Also it would Mitch + Barrass + Battle, which is a huge amount of a spine and key position power to be adding to a side in one season from the previous year, so the flow on effect and benefit on our elite flankers should be be as evident as it was, if not more, than when Brian Lake came over.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Once he's fit and firing the forward line should line up as:

Moore - Lewis - Ginnivan / MacDonald
Watson - Chol - Dear

With rotations between the half forwards and other areas of the field.

Eg. Moore through the middle and resting deep forward.

Hopefully Newcombe and Day get to spend some time resting forward too.

 

[Brant]

Once he's fit and firing the forward line should line up as:
Moore - Lewis - Ginnivan / MacDonald
Watson - Chol - Dear
With rotations between the half forwards and other areas of the field.

Eg. Moore through the middle and resting deep forward.

Hopefully Newcombe and Day get to spend some time resting forward too.

Needs more Sicily, Weddle & Hardwick!

Dear should be FF over Chol. Even as a 1st Year Player, he's better at dealing with blocking / contact in the contest than Chol.

Chol will dominate the 3rd Tall Defender (BP) or float across the marking contest for great effect. I reckon his defensive side will improve as well (which is scary!).

 

[lyger]

Needs more Sicily, Weddle & Hardwick!

Dear should be FF over Chol. Even as a 1st Year Player, he's better at dealing with blocking / contact in the contest than Chol.

Chol will dominate the 3rd Tall Defender (BP) or float across the marking contest for great effect. I reckon his defensive side will improve as well (which is scary!).

Agree on Chol. He looked most threatening when he had space to operate, leading or jumping at the ball, and less effective when having to wrestle under a high ball.

 

[threesixpio]

Agree on Chol. He looked most threatening when he had space to operate, leading or jumping at the ball, and less effective when having to wrestle under a high ball.

If Buddy was a giant X factor small forward Chol is a giant defensive forward. ‘Ken handy as ****

 

[lyger]

If Buddy was a giant X factor small forward Chol is a giant defensive forward. ‘Ken handy as ****

Actually that was my exact thought. I just didn’t want to reference Buddy but it’s what went through my mind.

 

[rei154]

If Lewis is out of the rehab group early, realistically what are the expectations regarding getting into match play?

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

If Lewis is out of the rehab group early, realistically what are the expectations regarding getting into match play?

Perhaps a week or two earlier - most likely no change. Even with all the data, dates are only estimates.

Improvement isn't linear. Every injury is different, so whilst rehabilitation looks similar, every recovery has slightly different developmental paths.

Mitch might be 'ahead of schedule' now in moving to minor lateral movements, but he may stagnate and take considerable time to regain full power/control before moving to contact.

I feel like last time we only saw Lewis in full contact training for a session or two before he was back in the side. For a player that's never been great under contact (indeed probably average or below at his best), my guess is their data shows once he has functional control and power over the moment there is little/no remaining performance improvement - with no additional injury risk, he's as good as he gets (physically).