“I felt my shoulder slide a bit and I sort of shook it off and it probably just kept happening for the next five minutes."
2:28pm Jul 19, 2017
“We always thought we’d try him up the field a bit more, so we did that in the last few weeks."
2:03pm Sep 27, 2016
11:44am Jul 23, 2018
12:06pm Jul 19, 2017
6:45pm Jun 24, 2017
11:16am Jun 5, 2017
6:26pm Feb 26, 2017
10:03am Feb 19, 2017
Junior clubs: Clarence
Recruited from: Clarence
Draft: #33, 2015 National
Debut: Round 1, 2017 v West Coast
- Versatility
- Endurance
- Chapman + Co Accounting
- Ash Monro
Mitchell Hibberd joined North Melbourne via the 2015 National Draft.
The midfielder, from Clarence in Tasmania, was terrific in the NAB AFL Under 18 Championships, averaging 24 disposals a game.
He was one of the standouts at the Draft Combine, finishing high up in the order in both endurance events and sprints.
At 190 centimetres tall, he's able to play in multiple positions and is also strong overhead.
A debutant in the round one loss against the Eagles, Mitch Hibberd found himself playing in the VFL for a majority of 2017.
Strong form for Werribee led to a recall to the senior team for the round 15 clash against the Gold Coast, in which he did enough to retain his spot in the 22.
A breakout 22 possession performance from half-back in the close loss to Fremantle in round 16 had seemed to tighten his grip on his position in the team, only to suffer a season ending shoulder injury the following week.
Development Manager, Ben Dyer
“We wanted him to play back to start off, because he’s played in defence in his junior footy but he’s tended to be freed up in defence a little bit.
“To get him to defend one-on-one and improve that part of his game was pretty important for him going forward. In the air he’s really strong and that’s a feature of his game.
“It was an interesting year for him from that perspective, getting used to defending in a different way, how to set up and obviously it’s a bit more complicated than what he’s dealt with before (in junior football).
“We always thought we’d try him up the field a bit more, so we did that in the last few weeks on the wing and he certainly found a lot more of the ball when he went there.
“He got used to the requirements of the wing with where to set up and where you need to run. We think long-term with his running endurance that he should be suited to a wing but also to work back in defence which can be his point of difference.”
- Disposals: 10
- Marks: 2
- Inside 50's: 2
- Time on Ground: 84%
Round 1, 2017 v West Coast
Venue: Etihad Stadium
North Melbourne: 4.6.30, 8.8.56, 11.10.76, 13.15.93
West Coast: 3.3.21, 9.8.62, 16.8.104, 21.10.136
