THIS time last year, Mitch Hannan was a Bulldog – with Footscray’s VFL team. A year on, he is lining up against some of his former teammates, who he played with in a VFL premiership, for the first time. He also played with several who featured in the Western Bulldogs’ drought-breaking AFL premiership. It was a big 2016 for Hannan, who was later drafted by Melbourne at No.46 in the NAB AFL Draft. Since arriving at Melbourne last November, Hannan has become a fine first-year player, playing all but one match and kicking 14 goals to date. Matt Burgan catches up with the former commercial drafter-turned-AFL player in the lead-up to round 13.

Coming up against the Dogs

AFTER being sidelined with a shoulder injury during this year’s JLT Community Series – when Melbourne played the Dogs at the VU Whitten Oval – Mitch Hannan will now come up against his ‘former club’ for the first time this round.

The 23-year-old said it was a different feeling this week, knowing he was coming up against the red, white and blue this week, when Melbourne takes on the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium this Sunday.

“It is a little bit different. Even though I wasn’t on their AFL list, you’re still around the club and you’re with the coaching and support staff. Even though I was playing for their ‘twos’, you’re riding that wave a little bit with them,” he told melbournefc.com.au.  

“I’ve only been with Melbourne for seven or eight months, but I’ve got some pretty fond memories of being with the Doggies. It’ll be an interesting game.”

During his time with Footscray, Hannan played with the likes of Bulldogs-listed players Fletcher Roberts, Bailey Dale and Lin Jong, along with several others who are set to play this weekend.

“It’ll be interesting coming up against them, as I played a bit of footy with them, so coming up against them will be a bit surreal,” he said.

Hannan said it had been an “interesting journey” coming from the VFL to AFL and one he didn’t expect so early in his career at Melbourne.

“I really didn’t think I’d be playing senior footy so early,” he said.  

“I thought I’d have to be like [I was] at Footscray, finding my feet in the VFL first and proving myself and then eventually, when the opportunity arose, jump in and giving the AFL standard a good crack.

“I got that opportunity quite early and it’s been something I’ve enjoyed. I think playing those couple of years of VFL – being able to come into the AFL system was probably less of a jump than say the guys who have come from the TAC Cup.”

The season so far …

With Hannan sidelined for Melbourne’s first two JLT Community Series matches against the Western Bulldogs and Carlton, he didn’t play his first match this year until a VFL intra-club match in early March.

A VFL practice match followed, before he was selected for round one against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium – something that remains his biggest surprise to date at Melbourne.

“I came in with a shoulder injury and I didn’t have any expectations through the JLT,” he said.

“I came back through the VFL’s intra-club, which was a night game out in Casey, and then one practice match out at Port Melbourne, and luckily enough I had a couple of good games, which probably gave me that opportunity to play round one.

“When I was told I was playing in round one – I honestly didn’t have any idea at all. I was expecting to have some more game time in the VFL. Getting that opportunity early really did catch me off guard. I think it was only a couple of days out from when the game was happening that it put me in a bit of a spin – telling family and friends, and getting prepared.”

Since then, Hannan said the season had “rolled on quite quickly”.

“It’s gone in a flash, as we’re already halfway through and I’ve been lucky enough to play the majority of the games, except one,” he said.

“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind, but something I’ve enjoyed.”

Building form

After playing in the opening four rounds, Hannan was left out for the clash against Richmond on ANZAC Day Eve. He was named an emergency, but in hindsight he saw the benefits of being omitted.  

“I’d had a good couple of games to start off my AFL career … but then I wasn’t performing at the level I would’ve liked. I was a little bit sore, which was expected, as I hadn’t played a lot of footy in the lead-up to those games,” he said.

“Having that week off was probably good for me personally. I was able to reflect on what I’d done previously, but I knew that when I got my next opportunity, it was something I needed to grab hold of and hopefully cement myself in the side.

“Even though we didn’t get the win against Richmond, I was thankful that the week after I was able to jump back in and play my role again.”

Since his return to side – against Essendon in round six – Hannan has continued to grow, with his performances against North Melbourne and Gold Coast Suns in rounds nine and 10 respectively, particularly impressive.

“I’m slowing beginning to find my feet a little bit. The role I play in the forward line can be a little bit subjective sometimes – [in terms] of how the game’s going and how it pans out. You can have some good patches of footy and then go missing a bit,” he said.

“I’ve been able to find my place in the forward line, and in the structure, and what I need to be doing to help the team. Thankfully enough, I was on the end of a couple of goals, which always helps.

“Definitely those last couple of games, I’ve been more comfortable in knowing what I have to do, and a lot more confident in where I’m supposed to be running and what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Hannan said defensive coordinator Jade Rawlings had also been somewhat of a mentor for him in his time at the club.

“From a coaching perspective, Jade Rawlings has,” he said.

“He’s a defensive coach, but he’s grabbed me quite frequently and he’s been helping me with that aerial marking, and some running patterns as a forward.

“He’s shown quite a lot of faith in me, and having him mentor me through some of the training and game day – it gives me the confidence to think that you’re capable of playing at that level, when someone of his calibre and his role at the club is behind you. Someone like him has been pretty positive.”

Playing on Queen’s Birthday

Having missed out on playing in front of more than 85,000 on ANZAC Day Eve, Hannan got to taste playing in front of a big crowd on Queen’s Birthday, when more than 70,000 watched Melbourne defeat Collingwood by four points.

The forward said it was “quite nervous coming into the game”.

“The Richmond game I missed out on, which was our biggest crowd to date [this season], which was 85,000 and this was the next best thing at 70,000. Prior to that, the biggest game I played in front of was the high 40,000s,” he said.

“That last quarter, it was quite tense and I was on the bench a couple of times and that’s when you hear the crowd quite a bit and how involved they are in the game.”

Hannan, who entered last round having kicked two bags of three goals against the Roos and Suns, also made a crucial contest in the final quarter against the Pies, when he collided with former Melbourne vice-captain Lynden Dunn.

There was genuine courage shown by both players, but it was Dunn, who copped the brunt of it, as Hannan explained.

“That big hit with Dunny was just a spur of the moment thing. I saw the ball there and went for it,” he said.

“Thankfully enough, I had a bit of speed behind me, because he’s a big guy, Dunny. If I had have been standing there, he would’ve done the same thing to me and gone straight through me. It was a heavy hit.  

“I played against him a couple of times last year – Footscray versus Casey. I don’t know him personally as well as some of the other guys at the club do. But I spoke to him after the game to make sure his head was all right and he told me he was just winded.

“After that, I saw a bit of the footage and I realised I got a couple of knees into his ribs, so he definitely would’ve been pretty sore.”

Second half of the season …

With 11 rounds remaining, Hannan said the club had a great opportunity to capitalise on a positive start, which sees Melbourne in sixth spot with six wins and five losses.

“A lot of the players that have been on the list for a while haven’t been in this position for some time. You can tell by the way they speak about it – they’re quite excited by the change that’s happened around the club in the past 18 months,” he said.

“The success that started to happen in the first half of this season – hopefully we can bring in the second half. Everyone has been quite upbeat – especially in the reviews of some of the games we’ve lost.

“They’ve only been near misses, so we know our best footy is quite capable of beating every club’s best footy. We just need to be able to bring that more consistently.

“If we can piece together a second half of the season similar to what we’ve done in the first half, and make sure as a group we keep improving, I think we’ll be playing some finals footy.”

From commercial drafting to full-time footy …

Having gone from St Bernards, where he was best-on-ground in the 2015 Grand Final, to the VFL in 2016 and the AFL in 2017, Hannan has quickly climbed the rungs in the past three years.

Combining his football with work as a commercial draftsman, before 2017, Hannan said he still loved football, despite the increased expectations and demands at each level.

“When you’re growing up, footy is just like a hobby or pastime. Then all of a sudden, it’s become my job, but there is still definitely a love of the game there – outside of it being a job,” he said.

“I enjoy rocking up every day and training, which is one of the main parts I enjoy about it – just working on myself individually, from a fitness perspective, and just being able to go in every day and get better.

“To be able to say that I do that as a job is pretty fulfilling.”

As for switching from architecture to football, Hannan said he was happy building his career with Melbourne.

“[I’m] not [missing architecture] at the moment – I’m pretty happy doing what I’m doing here. I’d like to think next year at least that I’ll get back into some work or some study in the same industry,” he said.

But, for the moment, the red and blue faithful is happy that he’s constructing a career with Melbourne.