Tom Mitchell could have felt sorry for himself.

But he didn’t.

Instead he identified an opportunity.

Now, just over a year since his tragic injury, he finds himself in the club’s leadership group for the first time.

“The last 12 months have been a challenge, but it is part of the game and something that every player goes through throughout their career and mine just happened to be last year,” Mitchell said.

“Having been out of the game, leadership is something I was really able to focus on.

“I think the last 12 months have allowed me to put a lot of energy into my teammates and the younger players and that’s something I’m proud of.”

Now, despite the 2018 Brownlow Medallist’s numerous achievements across his eight previous years in the system, he is about to embark on something he has never done before.

“It’s a huge honour, especially to share the role with Jaeger this year and stand behind Stratts and the other players in the leadership team to hopefully build towards something special.

“I think my strengths as a leader are mostly on-field and trying to lead by example and then always trying to work on building relationships around the whole footy club whether that be players, staff or admin.  

“I’ve learnt plenty off the club’s other leaders in the last 12 months and I’m sure I’ve got plenty more to learn in the years to come."