Hawthorn defender Seamus Mitchell won’t take part in any more of his club’s pre-season and is in doubt for the early rounds of the season 2024 after an incident at training.
Mitchell suffered a fractured jaw on Thursday after colliding with a teammate during match practice, with the 21-year-old to undergo surgery next week.
Mitchell, pick 29 in the 2020 National Draft, forced his way into Sam Mitchell’s best 22 early last season and managed 14 AFL appearances.
But his season may be set for a delayed start given Mitchell is expected to spend a month on the sidelines Hawthorn’s first game is five weeks away.
“Seamus had scans on Thursday afternoon which unfortunately confirmed a fracture of the jaw,” Hawthorn head doctor Liam West said in a club statement.
Mitchell to undergo surgeryhttps://t.co/bGoPzAQstt
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) February 8, 2024
“He will now see a specialist and then have surgery early next week. We will have a better idea on his timeline for return to play following that. But at this stage, we anticipate this to be somewhere between four to six weeks following his operation.
“It's an unfortunate result for Seamus, but we expect him to make a full recovery and he'll be doing everything he can to return to the field as soon as possible.”
Mitchell averaged 16.6 disposals and 4.7 marks in his first season to feature at AFL level and showed plenty of promise as a running defender. He was quick to put pen to paper on a two-year contract extension last July.