Australia

AFL premiership hero Sam Mitchell to coach Hawthorn from 2023



Alastair Clarkson will see out the rest of 2021 and the 2022 AFL season, before handing the reins to Sam Mitchell, the man he coached to four premierships.

Hawthorn said in a statement it was allowing Clarkson to see out his contract before implementing a “succession plan”.

Mitchell served as an assistant coach during West Coast’s 2018 premiership season and is currently head of development at Hawthorn and coaching the Box Hill Hawks in the VFL.

“I am looking forward to continuing my work in developing our young crop of players and coaching the Box Hill side over the next 18 months,” Mitchell said.

“Development is an area of football that I am incredibly passionate about and I am confident that over the next 18 months we will continue to see more and more of what our young players are capable of.”

The Hawks are currently second last in the AFL, with four wins from 15 games this season.

It is a far cry from the glory days of the Mitchell-Clarkson partnership.

Mitchell was drafted in 2001, Clarkson arrived in 2005 and the pair won premierships in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Mitchell left the Hawks after the 2016 season to play one year with West Coast and got some experience as an assistant to Adam Simpson in Perth the following year, before returning to Waverley Park in 2019.

Clarkson said he felt leaving at the end of his current contract was best for the club’s future and gave Mitchell more time to develop as a coach.

“At the end of last year, we made a decision to lay the foundations for the next wave of success at Hawthorn.

“That work has already begun, we are beginning to see glimmers of what the future Hawthorn side will look like, and I am committed to playing my part in continuing this work until the end of next season.

“My philosophy has always been to give my assistant coaches the responsibilities and opportunities they need to achieve their career aspirations.

“Sam is on this journey and the period of transition between Sam and I provides further opportunity for him to develop as he prepares to step into the senior coach role.”



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