Hawk Sam the man at Tigers on Saturday

HAWTHORN champion Sam Mitchell was the star attraction of a packed Before the Game event at McCartney Oval on Saturday.

More than 250 people turned up to hear the Hawthorn assistant coach speak about his time in the game in a Q&A with the Torquay Tigers’ Tim Carson.

After initially missing out on being drafted, Mitchell enjoyed an incredible career.

As well as winning five best and fairest awards with the Hawks, Mitchell was the joint-2012 Brownlow medallist with Trent Cotchin (after Jobe Watson was stripped of the medal following the Essendon drugs scandal), and a four-time premiership player with Hawthorn.

He also enjoyed a brief stint at West Coast as a player in 2017 and then assistant coach to Adam Simpson last year when the Eagles won the flag.

This year, Mitchell returned to his beloved Hawks as an assistant coach under Alistair Clarkson, where he is widely viewed as a senior coach in waiting.

In the Seniors game that followed the event, Torquay belted Portarlington to the tune of 99 points.

See pages 83 and 86 for more BFL coverage.