Clarkson And Buckley Go Head To Head Over Tom Mitchell's Impact

"It's pretty ballsy to say (that)"


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Nathan Buckley and Alastair Clarkson have had contrasting perspectives on the influence of Tom Mitchell's 50-disposal outing last night.

Mitchell racked up a whopping 50 disposals, becoming just the seventh player to do so, as well as 22 contested possessions.

He now averages 35.9 disposals a match in 2017, on pace to smash the all-time record for most disposals in a season.

But Buckley was reserved about his influence on the game, suggesting his impact with disposal paled in comparison to someone like teammate Isaac Smith.

"He just finds a way and keeps getting to the pill," he said post-match.

"(But) if I said he wasn't hurting us a lot, would that make sense?

"If Isaac Smith had 50, you'd have 2500 metres gained.

"(Mitchell) was getting the ball at contests and that was great, but, on the balance of it, our midfield was getting on top and working them over."

Mitchell gained just 309 metres for the match.

Clarkson heard Buckley's comments and disagreed, saying Mitchell's disposals had a big impact.

"I would have thought they were (doing damage) in the first half, because it was 10 goals to four and at quarter-time he'd had (14) disposals and we were six goals in front," Clarkson said.

"So it's pretty ballsy to say he wasn't having an influence at that point in time, because I think he was."

But he admitted Collingwood's midfielders did win the greater battle.

"But the bottom line with the Collingwood side is they got a greater spread and contribution from a whole host of midfielders that probably won that battle at the end of the day," he said.

21 May 2017




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