Eyeing Premierships, Mitchell Signs With Hawks Until 2010
The Age
Wednesday March 19, 2008
NEW Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell has signed a two-year contract extension until the end of 2010.
The midfielder said he was confident the club had a playing group capable of winning a premiership and was pleased to re-sign before the season began."We've got a very committed group and we'll be trying to spend as much time together and as many years together as we can...you'd be crazy if you were leaving at the moment," he said."I'm 25, so that (new contract) will take me to 28 and hopefully I'll get a couple more (seasons) after that. I'll just keep playing until they tell me they don't want me."Ahead of Sunday's match against Melbourne, Mitchell said it was disappointing former captain Shane Crawford, Campbell Brown, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis were suspended, but younger players would get a chance."We'd love to have them in the side, but it's a great opportunity for some of the younger players with 40 to 60 games (experience) to take the next step . . . starting from this week.After just a few months as captain he's not placing extra pressure on himself. "I don't think I'm going to do too much differently," he said. "You become the captain of a footy club because of the way you've gone about it (and) I'm feeling pretty good about the year."In a pre-season notable for off-field indiscretions at other clubs, he said the playing group at Hawthorn did not have a curfew. "Our leadership style is less rule based...we have more (focus) on guidance and education."We try to guide players on what times they should be going home, the sort of venues they're at and who they are with. We tried (curfews) and we didn't think it was the best thing for our playing group."
© 2008 The Age