Hawthorn forward Mitch Lewis will line up for his 100th AFL match this Sunday night when the Hawks travel to Perth to face the West Coast Eagles.

Following the depatures of Jordan Lewis and Sam Mitchell at the end of 2016, Hawks fans were overjoyed to see the club had selected young forward Mitchell Lewis with Pick 76 in that year's national draft. 

The Assumption College product spent 2017 developing his craft with Box Hill before his selection in the senior team for his debut in Round 9 the following year. 

His potential as a key forward was recognised by the league in 2019 when he earned a Rising Star nomination in Round 18.

Ahead of the 2020 season, Lewis inherited Jarryd Roughead’s famous #2 guernsey after wearing #39 across his first three years.

He went on to play 14 matches in the 2021 season, followed by another 15 in 2022.

But the next two years were an unfortunate grind for Lewis, after he suffered a partially torn ACL leading into the 2023 season, before undergoing a full ACL reconstruction in 2024.

Twelve months later, in September last year, Lewis announced his revival on one of footy’s biggest stages, booting three goals in the first half of the Preliminary Final.

Building upon his return, Lewis enjoyed a strong summer last pre-season to set himself up to break his single season games tally, with 21 appearances under his belt this year, and counting.

Along with 32 goals, Lewis is averaging 12.3 disposals and 5.3 marks per game (ranked above average for his position) in 2026.

This included a bag of five against Richmond in Round 19, just one shy of his career-best haul, which he achieved at UTAS Stadium against West Coast in 2023. 

Having recently put pen to paper on a new four-year contract extension to lock away his future at the Hawthorn, Lewis declared it had been a long road to get to game 100, but he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

Reflecting on his career so far with Andy Maher and Andrew Gaze on SEN’s Run Home, Lewis said: 

“It’s certainly not lost on me where my career was two or three years ago, where 100 was potentially not going to be reachable. 

“When you get drafted at Pick 76, the second-last pick in the draft, you’d be happy to play one game, but then you start playing a few more, and then that 100-game milestone is a goal most players want to get to.

“To reach it for me, it’s extremely special. 

“Even to notch up that little bit of Hawthorn history, when you play 100 games, your name goes up on your locker, so I think it’s a really big milestone.”