Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes believes Hawthorn will have a tough time trying to get equal value in exchange for Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara, calling the pair “essentially worthless” at the trade table.
Hawthorn was reported to have shopped the veteran midfield duo during last year’s trade period, but could not find any suitors, with both contracted to the club through 2023.
Mitchell, the 2018 Brownlow Medallist, has been well down on last year’s numbers through the first eight rounds of this season. His 25.9 disposals per game are almost 10 disposals less than last year’s gaudy average of 34.3, and is his second-lowest since his second year in the AFL.
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O’Meara has also endured similar struggles finding the football this season, with his 20.1 disposals per game the lowest average of his entire AFL career.
First-year coach Sam Mitchell has showed an inclination towards playing the club’s younger midfielders in Hawthorn’s engine room, with 20-year-old Jai Newcombe one of the main beneficiaries of the youth movement.
Mitchell’s shift towards the youth over his more experienced midfielders has left Cornes wondering what the veteran pair’s future is.
“I’m interested in their midfield because they tried to trade away Mitchell and O’Meara, I wonder what they are worth now because they are essentially worthless,” he told Nine’s Footy Classified.
“What would you get for Tom Mitchell? I’m not sure there was (a market) last year and there won’t be again this year. If you couldn’t trade them last year, you’re certainly not going to be able to trade them for much this year.
“They’re contracted until the end of 2023, so it’s a real issue for Sam Mitchell in how he manages a midfield that looks very, very same with the personnel that they’ve got.”
Despite Mitchell and O’Meara being down on their usual form, Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said the Hawks couldn’t completely abandon all their experienced charges in favour of the kids.
“These (young) guys, you’ve got to play them… but you’ve got to be careful that you don’t get belted every week,” he said.
“I think they’re in for a lot of pain for the rest of this season now. I reckon they’ll struggle to win too many more games so it’s that balancing act between being good enough with playing some mature bodies verse playing kids.
“I think you’ve got to get that balance right otherwise it becomes a long, long year.”