Mitchell James Duncan (born 10 June 1991) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). A versatile player at tall and weighing , Duncan is able to contribute in the forward line as well as the

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

. A standout junior footballer, Duncan entered top-level football early by signing for

East Perth Football Club The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club based in Leederville, Western Australia, current playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Formed in 1902 as the Unio ...

in the WAFL at the age of sixteen years. His accomplishments as a junior included winning a national championship with Western Australia, achieving

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

honours, selection for Australia in the

International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...

, and being awarded an AIS-

AFL Academy Australia has named a senior Australian rules football team, known as the All-Australian team since 1947. This team, however has never officially played an international Australian rules football match. This is primarily because the sport is pl ...

scholarship. Following a decorated junior career, Duncan was selected with Geelong's second pick, and twenty-eighth overall, in the

2009 AFL Draft The 2009 AFL draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2009/10 Australian Football League off-season. These were the trade week (held between 5 October and 9 October), the national draft (held on 26 November), the ...

. Duncan made his AFL debut in 2010, and was nominated at the conclusion of the season for the AFLPA Best First Year Player Award.

Early life

Duncan was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. He attended Carine Senior High School and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. Duncan is the son of former

East Fremantle East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

player Glen Rogers. Playing school football alongside future AFL players Kane Lucas and Travis Colyer, Duncan helped Trinity College capture the Alcock Cup—Perth's private school football tournament—in 2007. Duncan progressed from school football to sign for

at the age of sixteen years.Duncan, M
"Draft Dream no.4: Mitch Duncan"
''The Age'', 22 May 2009, accessed 25 February 2010 He achieved State honours for Western Australia in the under-16s AFL National Championships during 2007, captaining the state side and leading the team in total disposals. Duncan's promising junior performances were rewarded when he received a scholarship within the prestigious AIS-AFL Academy as part of the 2008 intake. As an academy member, he subsequently participated in the squad tour to South Africa. The following season, Duncan achieved State honours for Western Australian as a bottom-aged player during the AFL National Championships. At the age of just 17, Duncan was selected to play senior football for East Perth at the beginning of the 2009 WAFL season. However, a knee injury occurred in the first round of the season forced him to delay further appearances in the senior side. Despite this setback, Duncan's performances for the East Perth under-18s team upon his return again saw him elevated to the senior team for the remainder of the season. Duncan again received mid-year State honours for Western Australia in the AFL National Championships, and was named vice-captain of the squad. His performances in the championships—during which he averaged 20 disposals at a team-high 75% efficiency, ranked third overall for total marks, and kicked eight goalsSheehan, K
"All the facts, figures and background for this year's AFL national draft prospects"
Fox Sports, 20 November 2009, accessed 24 February 2010—earned him end-of-year

honours and helped Western Australia capture the 2009 national championship. Duncan's performances throughout the season saw him rewarded with an invite to the AFL Draft Camp, where he impressed recruiters by placing in the top 15 percent for the agility run, the top 12 per cent for the three-kilometre

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

and achieving a level of 14.1 in the

beep test The multi-stage fitness test (MSFT), also known as the beep test, bleep test, PACER test (progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run), or the 20m shuttle run test, is a running test used to estimate an athlete's aerobic capacity ( VO2 max). ...

AFL career

Duncan was drafted by the

with their second selection, and was the twenty-eighth overall draft pick in the

2010 season

Duncan made his first appearance for the club during the 2010 NAB Cup, recording 14 disposals, four inside-50s, and two goals on debut. He made his senior debut in the opening round of the

2010 AFL season The 2010 AFL season was the 114th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured six ...

, recording 10 disposals and 6 tackles against his childhood team

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

. During a round four fixture against

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

, Duncan recorded a career–high 20 disposals and 9 marks to help Geelong achieve a 95-point victory. In total, Duncan made 8 senior appearances during his debut season and finished the year ranked third amongst all first-year players in marks per game (5.4), sixth in goals per game (1.0), and sixth in goal assists per game (1.0)."Mitch Duncan statistics"
footywire.com, accessed 8 July 2010 His impressive performances throughout the year saw him nominated by his peers for the AFLPA Best First Year Award.

2011 season

In round three against Port Adelaide he tallied 24 disposals and kicked two long-range goals and was rewarded with the round 3 nomination for the

2011 AFL Rising Star The NAB AFL Rising Star award is given annually to a young stand-out player in the Australian Football League. The 2011 award was won by Dyson Heppell of the Essendon Football Club, who received the Ron Evans Medal. Eligibility Every round, an ...

Award. Duncan's season continued strongly, playing in all but one game, including selections into Geelong's finals teams, and was also selected into the 2011 Grand Final Team as a substitute. He entered the match after forward James Podsiadly dislocated his shoulder. Duncan played an important role gathering 10 possessions and scoring a goal at the 27-minute mark of the third quarter. The Geelong Cats played hard contested football in the fourth quarter and kicked five goals and kept Collingwood goal-less, giving Geelong the 2011 Premiership and Duncan his first Premiership Medallion; the first won by a substitute – introduced in the AFL Rules in 2011.

Player profile

Duncan is regarded as a versatile utility player, capable of featuring as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

or within the

.Gullan, S
"Cats can kick it to Mitch or Duncan"
''The Herald Sun'', 30 November 2009, accessed 2 December 2009 As a lead-up forward, he is noted for his strong marking ability and his role in linking-up plays around the ground.

Kevin Sheehan Kevin Vincent Sheehan OAM (born 1 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and the current Australian Football League (AFL) National Talent and International Manager, a member of the AFL football operations sub-committe ...

has complimented Duncan on possessing "good foot skills ... on both sides of the body", while showing an "ability to read the game to advantage ... and make excellent decisions". Duncan's teammate

Joel Corey Joel Corey (born 17 February 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder (Australian Rules), midfielder, tall and weighing , Corey is able to con ...

has also acknowledged his maturity and professionalism, likening his game-day approach to that of

Joel Selwood Joel Anthony Selwood (born 26 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a four-time premiership player ( including one time as captain), a six-ti ...

.Clark, J, "Mitch Duncan continues dream start to career", ''The Herald Sun'', 10 April 2010 In 2014, Duncan began writing a regular Saturday column in the sports section of the Geelong Advertiser. His column brings a fresh perspective to the Geelong Advertiser's sports coverage and is known for its hard hitting style.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''. , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , , 22 , 8 , , 8 , , 6 , , 67 , , 42 , , 109 , , 43 , , 18 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 8.4 , , 5.3 , , 13.6 , , 5.4 , , 2.3 , , 0 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

^# , , , , 22 , 21 , , 22 , , 10 , , 192 , , 165 , , 357 , , 100 , , 49 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 9.1 , , 7.9 , , 17.0 , , 4.8 , , 2.3 , , 0 , - ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , , , 22 , 22 , , 20 , , 12 , , 262 , , 138 , , 400 , , 122 , , 68 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 11.9 , , 6.3 , , 18.2 , , 5.5 , , 3.1 , , 2 , - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , , , 22 , 25 , , 14 , , 16 , , 310 , , 216 , , 526 , , 161 , , 72 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 12.4 , , 8.6 , , 21.0 , , 6.4 , , 2.9 , , 5 , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , , , 22 , 24 , , 23 , , 10 , , 302 , , 245 , , 547 , , 151 , , 78 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 12.6 , , 10.2 , , 22.8 , , 6.3 , , 3.3 , , 12 , - ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , , , 22 , 11 , , 8 , , 3 , , 105 , , 130 , , 235 , , 62 , , 26 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 9.6 , , 11.8 , , 21.4 , , 5.6 , , 2.4 , , 6 , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , 22 , 24 , , 9 , , 13 , , 285 , , 264 , , 549 , , 130 , , 110 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 11.9 , , 11.0 , , 22.9 , , 5.4 , , 4.6 , , 2 , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 22 , 24 , , 15 , , 13 , , 344 , , 354 , , 698 , , 158 , , 128 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 14.3 , , 14.8 , , 29.1 , , 6.6 , , 5.3 , , 11 , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , , 22 , 21 , , 7 , , 8 , , 315 , , 238 , , 553 , , 133 , , 74 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 15.0 , , 11.3 , , 26.3 , , 6.3 , , 3.5 , , 4 , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 22 , 23 , , 20 , , 6 , , 340 , , 241 , , 581 , , 172 , , 68 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 14.8 , , 10.5 , , 25.3 , , 7.5 , , 3.0 , , 11 , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 22 , 20 , , 13 , , 8 , , 262 , , 145 , , 407 , , 123 , , 68 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 13.1 , , 7.3 , , 20.4 , , 6.2 , , 3.4 , , 5 , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , 22 , 13 , , 8 , , 2 , , 200 , , 115 , , 315 , , 98 , , 33 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 15.4 , , 8.8 , , 24.2 , , 7.5 , , 2.5 , , 4 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

^# , , , , 22 , 22 , , 9 , , 7 , , 342 , , 173 , , 515 , , 184 , , 35 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 15.5 , , 7.9 , , 23.4 , , 8.4 , , 1.6 , , 4 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 258 !! 176 !! 114 !! 3326 !! 2466 !! 5792 !! 1637 !! 827 !! 0.7 !! 0.4 !! 12.9 !! 9.6 !! 22.4 !! 6.3 !! 3.2 !! 66 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team * 2× AFL premiership player ():

* 2×

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

():

Individual * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2011 (round 3)

Notes

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Mitchell Living people 1991 births Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club premiership players East Perth Football Club players People educated at Trinity College, Perth VFL/AFL premiership players 21st-century Australian sportsmen