Mitch Hannan

Mitchell Hannan (born 9 March 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Melbourne Football Club. A forward, 1.90 metres (6 ft 3 in) tall and weighing 87 kilograms (192 lb), Hannan has the ability to play as a forward and in the midfield. After failing to play in the TAC Cup as a junior, he joined the St Bernard's Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) where he won a premiership and the best on ground in the 2015 VAFA Grand Final. The next year, he played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he won his second premiership in as many years. His performances in the VAFA and VFL saw him recruited by the Melbourne Football Club in the 2016 AFL draft and he made his debut in the opening round of the 2017 season.

Mitch Hannan
Hannan playing for Melbourne in June 2019
Personal information
Full name Mitchell Hannan
Date of birth (1994-03-09) 9 March 1994
Original team(s) Footscray (VFL)
Draft No. 46, 2016 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2017, Melbourne
vs. St Kilda, at Etihad Stadium
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 87 kg (192 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club Western Bulldogs
Number 29
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017–2020 Melbourne 50 (55)
2021– Western Bulldogs 0 (0)
Total 50 (55)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Pre-AFL career

Originally from Gisborne, Victoria, Hannan failed to make the Calder Cannons and Bendigo Pioneers sides in the TAC Cup before leaving his junior club, Woodend, to join the St Bernard's Football Club in the premier division of the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).[1][2] He won a premiership with the club in 2015 and was named the best player on the ground in the grand final, winning the Jock Nelson Medal.[3] He played four matches for Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in the same season, before playing solely for the club in the 2016 season.[4] He rose to prominence during the season when he took a "ripping specky" during the opening round match against the Northern Blues,[5] which was described as "Gary Moorcroft like", whereby Moorcroft's 2001 mark is considered one of the greatest VFL/AFL marks in history and the best by ABC journalist, Dean Bilton.[6][7]

Playing fourteen matches for the season, his performances in the final month led to Footscray coach, Ashley Hansen, declaring he had the potential to be drafted to the AFL.[8] He was pivotal in Footscray's semi final win against Essendon according to Maribyrnong Leader reporter, Tim Michell, where he kicked three goals in the final quarter and "came to life in the last term to inspire his side".[9] He played in his second premiership in two years when Footscray defeated the Casey Scorpions by thirty-three points at Etihad Stadium in the VFL Grand Final.[10]

AFL career

Hannan was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with their first selection and forty-sixth overall in the 2016 national draft.[11] A shoulder injury halted his pre-season and he was considered unlikely to make his debut early in the season.[12] He did not feature in any matches during the JLT Community Series and despite this, he made his debut in the opening round of the 2017 season in the thirty point win against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, in which he kicked two goals.[13] He played the opening four matches before he was omitted for the round five match against Richmond at the Melbourne Cricket Ground,[14] and missed just the one match, returning for the thirty-eight point win against Essendon at Etihad Stadium.[15]

In his eighth AFL match, he kicked three goals and recorded fourteen disposals and five marks in the fourteen point loss to North Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round nine to be named in AFL Media's team of the week.[16] He played every match until the round twenty game against Greater Western Sydney at UNSW Canberra Oval,[17] before returning for the last three matches of the year to finish with twenty games in total in his debut season.[18] At the end of the season, he was the Melbourne nominee for the AFL Players Association (AFLPA) best first year player award[19] and finished fourteenth in Melbourne's best and fairest with 216 votes.[20]

At the conclusion of the 2020 AFL season, Hannan was traded to the Western Bulldogs.[21][22][23]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season [18]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2017 Melbourne 1920221013811024849601.10.56.95.512.42.53.0
2018 Melbourne 191522161126117350331.51.17.54.111.53.32.2
2019 Melbourne 196413229611880.70.25.34.810.23.01.3
2020[lower-alpha 1] Melbourne 1997341317221150.80.34.63.48.02.31.7
Career 50 55 30 323 231 554 138 116 1.1 0.6 6.5 4.6 11.1 2.8 2.3

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. Michell, Tim (25 November 2016). "Mitch Hannan goes from VAFA grand final to AFL list in 12 months after being drafted by Melbourne". Mooney Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  2. Michell, Tim (22 June 2017). "Melbourne forward Mitch Hannan overcomes setbacks on successful journey to the big time". Mooney Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  3. Ratcliffe, Damien (21 September 2015). "St Bernard's wins its third A-grade flag in VAFA, defeating Old Trinity in a thriller at Princes Park". Mooney Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  4. Michell, Tim (28 January 2016). "St Bernard's retains bulk of VAFA premiership side in preparation for tilt at back-to-back flags under Mark Riley". Mooney Valley Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  5. "Video: Footscray Bulldogs VFL player Mitch Hannan takes absolute screamer against Northern Blues". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  6. Amy, Paul (23 November 2016). "Best VFL players in line to be drafted to the AFL". Leader Community News. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  7. Bilton, Dean (2 July 2015). "AFL's best high flyers: From Nic Naitanui to Jeremy Howe to Gary Moorcroft, the best leapers in the league". ABC Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  8. Diamond, Brent (16 September 2016). "AFL hopefuls strut their stuff in VFL finals". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  9. Michell, Tim (12 September 2016). "Mitch Hannan stands tall in last term to propel Footscray into VFL preliminary final". Maribyrnong Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  10. D’Anello, Luke (25 September 2016). "Footscray upsets Casey Scorpions in VFL decider". Maribyrnong Leader. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  11. Guthrie, Ben (25 November 2016). "Speed, power, speccies: Demon draftee's point of difference". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  12. Waterworth, Ben (23 January 2017). "The AFL players yet to debut — and their chances of playing in 2017 season". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  13. Burgan, Matt (23 March 2017). "Debut quicker than expected: Hannan". MelbourneFC.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  14. Collins, Ben (22 April 2017). "TEAMS: Pies recall ruckman, Dees name forgotten forward". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  15. "AFL Teams Round 6: Full squads for every game, ins and outs, injuries, suspensions and team news". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  16. Guthrie, Ben; Navaratnam, Dinny (23 May 2017). "Team of the week, R9: Did we get it right?". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  17. "AFL Teams Round 20: Full squads for every game, ins and outs, injuries, SuperCoach advice". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  18. "Mitch Hannan". AFL Tables. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  19. Waterworth, Ben (30 August 2017). "One player from every AFL club nominated for best first-year player of 2017". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  20. Burgan, Matt (9 October 2017). "Oliver wins 'Bluey' in emphatic win". MelbourneFC.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  21. Schmook, Nathan (10 November 2020). "Crafty forward enters Kennel for future pick". AFL Media. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  22. Cotton, Ben (10 November 2020). "DONE DEAL: Hannan moves to Bulldogs". ZeroHanger. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  23. "Hannan becomes a Bulldog". Western Bulldogs Media. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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