Watch Sam Mitchell's exclusive one-on-one interview with HawksTV.

HAWTHORN midfielder Sam Mitchell will remain at the Club until the end of the 2013 season after signing a one year extension on his current contract.

With family in mind, the decision for Mitchell to extend his contract before its expiration was a simple one.

“It’s nice to get an extra year on the contract and have a little bit more security for my family,” he said.

“There’s not that pressure of the end of a contract coming up.”

Despite having already won three Peter Crimmins Medals and earning an All-Australian guernsey in 2011, the Hawks’ hard man still relishes the challenge of playing AFL football.

Those challenges he said though, aren’t made easier by receiving accolades for performances on the field.

“There’s always a new challenge, regardless of where you’ve been and what you’ve done, and the challenge changes as the journey goes on,” he said.

“The beauty of elite sport is you get to continue improving and try to get better, regardless of what age you are, you try to get better every day, every week and every year.”

The Hawks clearance king has played 209 games at the highest level, and despite being one of his team’s most experienced players, he can’t see and end in sight.

Mitchell is conscious though, of continuing to play a vital role in the Hawks’ midfield machine.

“I’ll continue to play while I can play a role for the side and be worthwhile,” he said.

“I don’t want to be on my last legs and have my teammates carry me through, I’d like to contribute.

“(But) I feel exactly the same physically, as I did five years ago, so I don’t see the end coming any time soon hopefully.”

At 29 years of age, the Hawks’ 2008 premiership captain eyes a move into coaching once he does decide to give away the game he loves.

It is an aspiration that Mitchell is focused on and is committed to improving and learning his ability to teach and mentor players.

“I enjoy listening and I’m probably one of the few guys that enjoys meetings and listening to the way coaches coach and teach,” he said.

“I enjoy spending time with the young guys and trying to develop their skills as well.”

Proving that he could one day be another successful coach produced by the Hawks - following in the footsteps of names such as Leigh Matthews and Rodney Eade, his description of the ways he aims to improve shows his ability to understand the coach’s role.

“It develops as you get older, you get teaching styles,” he said.

“I understand the people I work with and try and have empathy for their situations and learning that every player and every person responds differently to different types of coaching and teaching.

“Learning styles and things like that are important so being able to take those things into account is something I’m learning all the time.”

Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club’s Digital media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre




RELATED

Learn more about the Club's Seven in Seven campaign