It’s been a long wait since coming to the club, but Swans first-round draft pick Tom Mitchell will get his first taste of football in the red and white this weekend.
The 18-year-old, who was drafted from Western Australia with pick 21 as a father-son selection in last year’s AFL Draft, has been sidelined for most of the pre-season with an ongoing knee complaint.
The son of Swans 170-gamer Barry Mitchell, has now been given the all clear to pull on the boots and line up for the Swans reserves against Sydney Uni at Blacktown International Sportspark tomorrow afternoon.
“I’m very excited to play my first game for the club,” Mitchell told sydneyswans.com.au.
“I’ll be playing in the reserves and it will be good to get involved with the boys, and I can’t wait to play my first game.”
Mitchell arrived at the club with a standout work ethic from his time at the AIS-AFL Academy, however, a case of knee tendonitis prevented the up-and-coming talent from partaking in the bulk of the Swans’ pre-season training.
Mitchell admitted that the last few months on the sidelines were difficult as he worked at getting his body up to match fitness.
“Obviously getting in an (AFL) club you want to make a good first impression and do everything you can and work hard, so it was a bit hard not being able to train and not doing all the footy training with the guys and being stuck doing other conditioning stuff by myself,” he said.
“It was frustrating but hopefully I’m past that hurdle now and I can get stuck into training and playing games.
“I had advice from a lot of the senior players, in particular guys like Jude Bolton and Jarrad McVeigh who shared their experiences with injuries, which they had as young players as well.
“They helped me with how to approach them and the things I could do to get my body right.”
Although he will only play limited game time this weekend, Mitchell said any time on the field is a positive step.
“It’s just about building up game time now, so this week I’ll start playing a quarter and then build that over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“I’ve had a few setbacks through the pre-season and I’ve missed a bit of training, but to be just getting out there means things are now on track.”
A classy midfielder in his time with the Western Australian under-18 squad, Mitchell said he is focused on developing his all round game this season.
“My strength is probably winning the ball and trying to bring my team mates into the game,” he said.
“Obviously I still have a lot of things I need to work on, which I have been working on with the other senior mids and the coaches.
“I’m improving on the defensive aspect of the game, and defence is a big thing for all the young players, as well as developing my skills.
“Hopefully I can string a few solid games together in the reserves and hopefully push for senior selection towards the end of the year.”
The Sydney Swans reserves will face Sydney Uni for the first time in the NEAFL tomorrow, with the game available to stream live courtesy of the league website - www.neafl.com.au.
The Swans reserves team to face Sydney Uni can be found below:
NEAFL Round 7
Sydney Uni v Sydney Swans
Saturday May 5, from 12pm
Blacktown International Sportpark
B M.Crawford J.Weir J.Davis
HB T.Armstrong C.Heath J.Potter
C S.Biggs H.Cunningham N.Gordon
HF T.Dennis-Lane J.White M.Morton
F A.Wynn T.Walsh J.Lamb
Rucks M.Pyke J.Moore T.Mitchell
Inter. (from): B.Meredith D.McNeil E.Kruger J.Lynch S.Wray J.Roebuck T.Thurgarland
