Mitchell shaping up well after bad break

HAWTHORN midfield star Tom Mitchell is back to the “Tommy we’re used to” as the Hawks plan for the Brownlow medallist to make a return in Round 1.

Donning the blue cap at training, Mitchell has started to join in match play with his teammates 12 months after the horrific broken leg he suffered last pre-season.

After a slow progression recovering from the double break of his tibia and fibula bones, Hawks assistant coach Sam Mitchell said yesterday the star onballer was now “looking pretty sharp”.

While still unsure of an exact timeframe, Mitchell expects the star Hawk to feature at some stage of the pre-season campaign.

“Tom is going well, he is on track,” Mitchell said. “He had a pretty slow progression a bit over 12 months now, but he is in good spirits and has started to do some match play and dons the blue hat to make sure that no one is cannoning into him too much.

“He has started to be the normal Tommy that we’re used to, he is finding a bit of the footy at training. He is in a really good place. He’s able to do most of the sessions now, which he has been really keen to do and he has started to lead the way as far as preparation goes again.”

Asked if the midfield ace was a chance to return for Round 1, Mitchell said the Hawks were working towards that goal. “I really hope so as midfield coach because he is certainly looking pretty sharp,” Mitchell said.

“I think he is a realistic chance … the plan at this point is that he will be ready for that time and to play some time in the pre-season games and he’ll be ready for Round 1.

“The way I have watched him train, I would think that you would probably see him before Round 1 in some description … it might not be for 120 minutes, but I think we are likely to see him.”