THE QUALITY of Sam Mitchell's disposals rather than how many times he wins the ball will determine his impact on Saturday's Grand Final against West Coast.
The 32-year-old champion recorded his worst disposal efficiency of this season against the Eagles in the qualifying final - just 57.1 per cent.
It was the only game for the year where his disposal efficiency dropped below 63 per cent and was caused by a dramatic drop in his kicking efficiency (just 44.4 per cent).
The veteran Hawk is used to major attention in Grand Finals, with Cameron Ling and Ryan Crowley both limiting his disposal tally in the big one.
Against Ling in 2008 he had just 13 disposals, although he influenced the game by putting pressure on the opposition.
He was more effective in 2013 despite gaining only 12 disposals. In that contest, he ran into Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands' hit zones to disrupt the Dockers' stoppage plans.
The Eagles did not apply a hard tag in the qualifying final, with Dom Sheed's 24 minutes on Mitchell the longest any individual spent alongside him.
Elliot Yeo ran with him for 17 minutes, Mark Hutchings 14 minutes, Scott Selwood and Jamie Cripps 12 minutes apiece and Luke Shuey 10.
It was a change in tactic from round 19, when Matt Priddis was Mitchell's match-up for 49 minutes. In that time, Mitchell had 14 touches to Priddis's 12 disposals.
In that game, Mitchell's kicking efficiency was still only 50 per cent but his 12 handballs were fired out at 100 per cent efficiency.
And the Hawks won.
In the qualifying final Mitchell found it hard to find free players up the field and his handballs were just a bit off.
On Saturday, the Eagles need to close those outlets while putting pressure on Mitchell to ensure he never finds his rhythm.
Putting pressure on Mitchell is easier said than done, as he has a great lateral step and can twist and turn to find space.
Mitchell's statistics are comparable in both wins and losses in 2015, averaging 29 disposals in losses and 32 in wins, and his disposal efficiency was actually better in the losses.
But his average number of score involvements is just 5.5 in losses compared to 9.1 in wins.
Mitchell is an important cog in the Hawthorn system but his value increases because he is part of a strong system.
Like a jockey sweating on the favourite in a group one, the Eagles must be aware of any time Mitchell hits a hot patch and clamp him immediately.
The last time they met: Eagles v Hawks
The other side of the equation in relation to Mitchell is what Fremantle coach Ross Lyon alluded to after the Dockers-Hawks clash on Friday night, when he said teams must make Mitchell defend.
Therefore winning the football becomes all-important for the Eagles. They must keep the ball out of Mitchell's hands and potentially expose his lack of pace, creating overlap run and charging through the middle.
As Lyon said, Mitchell is happy if a player sits on him.
The important way teams can expose the limited weakness he has is to spread the ball, making it hard for Mitchell to become as involved in distributing the ball left or right from a stoppage or from the back half of the centre square.
Stats supplied by Champion Data
