ST KILDA has something genuinely special in Mitchito Owens.
At just 19 years of age, Owens is not only statistically the best teenager in the League right now but has already joined the competition's elite playing in one of the game's most difficult roles.
Perhaps overshadowed by the prolific nature of North Melbourne youngster Harry Sheezel's start to the year and the ease in which Will Ashcroft has settled into Brisbane's midfield, Owens can also be classified as the most underrated AFL Rising Star contender.
Owens earned his nomination for a round four performance against the Suns where he finished with 27 disposals, 19 contested possessions, kicked two goals, had two goal assists and also racked up five marks, five tackles, five hitouts and seven score involvements.
It was the cherry on top of a season where he has already established himself among the very best key forwards in the competition. In fact, according to Champion Data, Owens now ranks No.2 among all forwards for AFL Player Ratings Points through six weeks.
Owens' 15.6 AFL Player Ratings Points is only narrowly behind Geelong superstar Jeremy Cameron (16.6), who is the top-ranked forward in the League, and is ahead of a trailing pack of players that includes Tom Papley (14.2) and Charlie Curnow (13.7).
As for the best teenagers in the League – and subsequently a host of fellow Rising Star contenders – Owens' 15.6 points is significantly clear of Jason Horne-Francis (11.9), Sheezel (11.1), Ashcroft (10.6) and teammate Mattaes Phillipou (10.1).
The question mark around Owens through his draft year was that, at 191cm and having displayed plenty of flexibility through his junior career, he didn't necessarily have a natural position.
It's perhaps why St Kilda's Next Generation Academy prospect fell to pick No.33 in the 2021 national draft, when he finally attracted a bid from Sydney, with the fact he was selected outside the top-20 picks enabling the Saints to win access to him.
Many clubs inside the top-20 had strongly considered Owens, noting his competitiveness and his smarts – and a growth spurt in his bottom-age season, which saw him grow 15cm in little more than 12 months – among his biggest assets.
Ultimately, though, St Kilda was able to pair him with fellow Academy graduate Marcus Windhager and has benefited from Owens flourishing with the security and consistency of nailing down a set position as a key forward.
His role was settled after the Saints watched talls like Max King and Tim Membrey go down with injury to start the year, deploying Owens as a makeshift key forward target and a secondary ruck option to Rowan Marshall.
Champion Data notes that Owens subsequently ranks 'elite' among all key forwards for disposals (17.2 per game), contested possessions (10.7 per game), forward-half pressure points (28.1 per game) and tackles (4.3 per game) this year.
He also ranks 'above average' for score involvements (6.2 per game), while his metrics in the ruck – despite only taking 9.3 contests per game – also stack up reasonably well, with a hitout to advantage win-rate of 60 per cent.
It's in these difficult roles that the 19-year-old has been able to demonstrate the subtle body movements and the football IQ – such as his ability to know when to attack, or when to neutralise – that defined him as a junior footballer.
Also recognised as someone with the potential to play across all three zones, there remains the distinct possibility Owens could be made into a big-bodied midfielder or even an intercept defender in the future.
But for now, it's forward where Owens is impacting the game most. He has helped spearhead St Kilda's scintillating 5-1 start under coach Ross Lyon and has the complete backing of the side's new leader.
As things stand, although the sample size is small, the Rising Star award is his for the taking.
