TOM MITCHELL has had to play second fiddle to the Sydney Swans' 'Big Four' in his four seasons at the club, but the way he's developing, there might a 'Big Five' by season's end.
With Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Dan Hannebery and Kieren Jack part of a star-studded on-ball division, Mitchell had to work hard to earn a permanent spot in the side.
After winning a career-high 41 possessions in the Swans' 26-point win over North Melbourne on Friday night, the 22-year-old almost deserves to be ranked alongside his more experienced teammates in terms of importance to the team.
In round nine, Mitchell took on Hawthorn champion Sam Mitchell and held him to just 15 touches in the Swans' win at the MCG. Just a week later, he went on the offensive, racking up 11 kicks, 30 handballs, 17 contested possessions, 10 tackles and five clearances against the Kangaroos.
WATCH: John Longmire's full post-match press conference
Swans coach John Longmire said that Mitchell's talent had never been in question, but his body was now allowing him to show it to the footy world.
"I've been really open about it, he didn't have many pre-seasons and wasn't fit," Longmire said.
"He didn't have enough training under his belt and if you don't have that continuous run over the pre-season you find it hard to develop your game.
"It's so hard at AFL level and he's been able to benefit from that enormously over the last two years.
"If you're playing on good mids at training over summer, you get an experience of that and that's what he was able to do."
The Swans' defence went into the game undersized with veteran Ted Richards (concussion) missing, but Heath Grundy, Dane Rampe and Jeremy Laidler played their roles to perfection, easily winning their one-on-one battles with Drew Petrie, Ben Brown and Jarrad Waite.
North's trio of tall targets managed to kick just one goal between them for the night, with academy draftee Callum Mills and debutant Harrison Marsh both cool under pressure alongside co-captain Jarrad McVeigh.
Swans v Kangaroos: Full match details and stats
Longmire said he was rapt with the mix of experience and youth in his backline.
"We were confident in our defenders going in, and we introduced another young kid in Harry Marsh to that back six," he said.
"Marsh and (Callum) Mills and (Zak) Jones went through there a bit again and they were steered around by the old firm.
"I thought Heath Grundy was super and played a fantastic game, and (Jeremy) Laidler and Nick Smith, they've played a bit of footy those guys.
"It's good to have that experience around as well."
