IT was the mark that made people take notice of Mitch Georgiades.
Early in the last quarter against Melbourne at the Gabba, ruckman Pete Ladhams had the ball on centre wing. He bombed it long inside 50 to a pack of five players including Charlie Dixon, Justin Westhoff and three Demon defenders, including man mountain ruckman Max Gawn. Georgiades started about 20 metres away but made his way towards the contest from the side, jumped high in front of them all with his arms outstretched and came down with the ball.
He followed up by booting his third goal for the day.
At 18 and after just four career games, Georgiades is already making a name for himself as a high-flier.
“It’s always been a part of my game,” he explained at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I’ve grown up doing a lot of athletics and stuff like that so jumping has been a part of my natural game for as long as I can remember. It’s what I love to do and I’ve just got to try and control it and use it when I’m meant to.
“(Coach) Ken (Hinkley)’s just been amazing with that. He’s just said to play my game of football within the realms of working with people around you – whether that’s (Justin) Westhoff, or big Charlie (Dixon) to get the outcome we need.”
With a licence to jump at every ball, Georgiades went to work against Melbourne in Round 9, earning himself the weekly nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star.
The West Australian finished the game with eleven disposals, five marks and seven score involvements.
While the recognition is nice, Georgiades is just happy to be back playing football after missing all of 2019 with a leg injury.
“Just playing footy is pretty exciting and to get that recognition is pretty cool after last year not playing football, it’s pretty exciting to have but nothing really changes, you keep going forward and look forward to playing more footy,” he said.
“I guess it’s a childhood dream to run out on Adelaide Oval, to run out in front of a crowd and play AFL football so from where I was a couple of years ago, where I missed the whole last year of playing footy, it’s pretty special to be running around out there in the big time.
“I’m learning so much each week and it’s really exciting to see where the boys take us.”
Working closely with mentor Brad Ebert, who he described as “instrumental” in his development, Georgiades has cemented himself in a Port Adelaide side which sits top of the AFL ladder after eight wins in 10 games.
Port Adelaide surprised many by claiming Georgiades with pick 18 in last year’s draft and he would be defying the expectations of many given his 2019 injury interruption.
“I didn’t put too many expectations on myself at the start of the year,” the Subiaco product said.
“I just focussed on trying to play football again after having a year off last year – I was just excited to get back out there and play footy.
“What’s come along with it is pretty amazing. So (now I want) to keep learning and keep building on what I’ve learned, and see where that takes us.
“It’s definitely a massive step up but the boys have made it so easy to transition.
“My mentor is Brad Ebert so to be learning off him has been instrumental and all the rest of them has been amazing.”
Georgiades had the strange scenario of learning he had won the Round 9 rising star nomination on Monday as he was preparing to play his Round 10 game against the Western Bulldogs, due to the congested AFL fixture, which has one round rolling straight into the next.
He is already turning his attention to Round 11, which starts for Port Adelaide on Saturday when it takes on Richmond at Adelaide Oval.
The tight turnarounds and challenge of coming up against the reigning premier is a test Georgiades is relishing.
“This year, the team has approached it well with all the challenges and we’ve looked forward to taking on the new things,” he said.
“And this will definitely be part of it so we look forward to that on the weekend.”
