With concerns still surrounding the fitness of Jaeger O'Meara and with Jack Fitzpatrick picked ahead of Tyrone Vickery for Saturday's clash with the Brisbane Lions, Mitchell is in the form of his life.

With 237 disposals this year at an average of 34 a game, the Swan-turned-Hawk is the No.1 ball-winner in the competition.

He's also fifth in the league for contested possessions, behind only Brownlow medallists Patrick Dangerfield and Nat Fyfe, one of this year's favourites Rory Sloane and Sydney superstar Josh Kennedy.

But it hasn't always been easy for Mitchell.

As recently as 2014, he played only six games for the Swans, spending the rest of the year in the NEAFL and battling a persistent ankle injury.

It was almost three years ago to the day that he turned heads in the reserves, racking up an astronomical 64 disposals, the highest recorded by Champion Data in state leagues or under-18 competition.

But not even that earned him a senior recall, with him having to wait until round 22 to play his next game before being dropped for the finals.

"There are always times of frustration," Mitchell said. "I think every player throughout their career goes through similar things.

"Whether it's injury or selection, not everything is going to go your way so there were definitely times when I fitted into that category.

"I was probably a little bit frustrated at times, but I just tried to put my head down and work hard and work on the things I needed to improve."

And improve he did. He played 19 games in 2015 and then every game last year en route to a grand final appearance, albeit a losing one against the Western Bulldogs.

When Mitchell left Sydney for Hawthorn after 65 games for the red and white, he was leaving a grand final side for a team that may go down as the best in modern history.

It was riches to riches.

But - as has been well documented - the two sides have only three wins from 14 this year and even Mitchell admitted he wasn't expecting to see his former side so far down the ladder.

"I was a little bit surprised to see the win/loss record at the start of the season, but I think with their first win on the weekend against Brisbane ??? they're a great team and a good club and they'll bounce back for sure."

Now it's Hawthorn's turn to face Brisbane this week, and Mitchell said the group is desperate not to repeat a previous error.

"We realised after we had our first win against West Coast, for whatever reason our mindset wasn't there the following week and we had a big loss against St Kilda," he said.

"Heading into this week against Brisbane, we realise we only just won the game against Melbourne and we realise our mindset can't waiver back to how it was last time. We can't get too ahead of ourselves."

The workhorse midfielder has just bought a house in Richmond - like many of his Hawthorn teammates - where he'll move to in the coming weeks.

Away from football, he's continuing his degree in sports science at ACU after starting it while in Sydney.

"It's just been good to be back in Melbourne, the city where I grew up, just to catch up with family and friends on a regular basis who I probably haven't seen a lot of for the last five years, so that's probably the part I've enjoyed the most as well as getting to know my new teammates," he said.

Mitchell speaks very fondly of his time at Sydney and has linked the strong culture at the Bloods with that of Hawthorn.

"I'm very fortunate that I've been at two great clubs and a club where there are guys who have been to the pinnacle. They've played in grand finals, played in premierships ??? I've looked at those guys from a learning point of view.

"Both Sydney and Hawthorn are recognised for having great cultures and 'Clarko' has instilled an outstanding culture at Hawthorn that I'm very fortunate to be a part of, so I'm sure under his leadership we'll be able to bounce back.

"That's why we're very lucky. [Coach Alastair Clarkson] is very driven and very determined and he's a leader, along with 'Roughy' [Jarryd Roughead] and everyone else."

Hawthorn fans have already had the privilege of witnessing one Mitchell donning the brown and gold, with Sam dominating games for more than a decade.

And while his name may not have the same cachet just yet, Tom's Hawthorn career is off to a pretty good start.