Seconds out from quarter time at the MCG last night, Sam Mitchell walked the boundary line like a man out for a Friday evening stroll. Those who coached and played with him at Hawthorn say he was the calmest footballer they’d seen before and during big games. His opposition number was coiled, clenched and up for a scrap. Mitchell, as always, had the faintest of smiles, his hands behind his back, a human graphing calculator, a man who does his best work with a clear head. His team was two goals down, but this was the look of a coach who had the game where he wanted it.
Mitchell was his team’s best player the last time Hawthorn met the Western Bulldogs in a final. It was also his last game for the club, and the night the great Hawthorn era was officially snuffed out. That evening, the Dogs were four goals down in the second term, but Luke Beveridge was confident they had the game under control.
