The imposing 198cm key forward ruptured two ligaments in his shoulder in a practice match, but rather than let such a setback on the eve of an important year get him down, he decided to use the time off to work harder than ever.
Mitchell came close to being claimed by Gold Coast as a 17-year-old in 2009, but while he was unsuccessful in joining the Suns, he left with some key areas to work on and he set about rectifying them with the help of the Cannons conditioning staff.
"We focused on a lot of speed and power along with the technique of running. I just tried to put the best people around me and that worked really well," Mitchell said.
"It was pretty tough at stages, but I had a few goals in place that we'd set up and I was pretty adamant that was going to reach them. It took a lot of time, but I didn't really lose much concentration throughout the process."
Mitchell worked extensively with Stawell Gift winner Adrian Mott among others and impressed Cannons regional manager Ian Kyte with his attitude throughout.
"The hardest thing we had to do was keep him in check," Kyte said.
"The operation was really successful and he was feeling like he could do a lot of things a lot earlier than he was supposed to. We had to pull him up a couple of times on the track.
"While it's unfortunate that he injured his shoulder and missed 18 weeks, it's probably worked out pretty well for him. He did his rehab fantastically and while he was looking forward to the year, I don't think it's going to do him any harm at all."
Brisbane Lions forward Jonathan Brown is one of Mitchell's favourite players, but Kyte likened his style more to another handy AFL forward.
"I know [Cannons coach] Martin Allison gave him some tapes of Nick Riewoldt last year and he became very good in that type of role," he said.
"He's a fantastic build now for an 18-year-old lad, but you might find he'll go to an AFL club and be stronger, but lighter. I think he's going to be more of a running, leading forward who gets up the ground like Riewoldt than a pack-smashing power forward like Brown."
Mitchell finally made it back on the field with four games left in the season and was an important part of the Cannons' drive to the grand final where he left AFL recruiters in no doubt as to his capabilities.
His five goals against Gippsland were a key component of Calder's premiership triumph.
"It was a good end to a pretty tough year," he said.
"It was really exciting. It was the second year in a row that we'd played at Etihad. It was a big build up and a bit different to what we usually do.
"There was a lot going on around the club and you get a few messages from people you haven't spoken to in a while to wish you the best and that's great."
Kyte wasn't in the least bit taken aback at what Mitchell was able to achieve despite such an interrupted preparation.
"He got better after each final. Our aim in our last game, whenever that was, was to showcase him and let people know that he was still as good a player as he was last year if not better and that's what happened," he said.
While his grand final haul was an obvious attention grabber, Kyte pointed to the team role Mitchell played in the elimination final against Eastern Ranges as a turning point, with his willingness to do the one percenters not lost on the trained eyes of AFL recruiters.
But even having put an exclamation point on his junior career, Kyte was confident Mitchell's play in prior years, combined with his attitude and willingness to learn during a tough period, had earned enough plaudits from those who count.
"Even if he hadn't have played a game in 2010, someone probably would have drafted him," he says.
"But his last three or four games heading into the finals pushed him up to definitely being drafted and his last game might have moved him further up the order."
Follow our complete coverage of the 2010 NAB AFL Draft on November 18. Join the AFL draft conversation on Twitter: use #AFLdraft in your tweets.
