Mitch Duncan has played any role asked of him in his 16-year career at Geelong.
The No.22 has been a midfielder, wingman, high half-forward, running defender and the sub.
Mitch Duncan has been an ultimate professional throughout his 299-game AFL career.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Hell, he even remembers competing for a hitout at centre bounce once against former ruckman Patrick Ryder.
Whatever Cats coach Chris Scott asked, Duncan was prepared to do to help his team.
But on Thursday night he is prepared to draw the line if Scott throws him the sub’s vest for his 300th game.
“I’ve already told him I’m not playing if he does that,” Duncan said.
Mitch Duncan will become the seventh Cat to play 300 games for the club.Credit: AFL Photos
If push came to shove, he probably would take it because the 33-year-old prides himself on being a viable answer to the many questions the dual premiership coach might pose to his team.
“Whatever he needed I was always ready to go,” Duncan said.
However, it would undersell the smooth-moving Cat to say he was a hole-filler on his way to becoming the seventh Geelong player to play 300 matches and the fifth from the 2011 premiership team to hit the milestone.
He hardened up from a laconic running player who didn’t worry too much about making a mistake into a hardworking professional who could win a contested ball.
That took resilience as his teammates and coaches did not suffer fools in his early years.
Assistants Brendan McCartney and Nigel Lappin and then senior coach Chris Scott taught him how to play.
It was a different era when coaches could hit as hard as a Shane Mumford shirtfront, a feeling an unlucky Duncan experienced in 2016.
“I loved the black and white feedback [from coaches and teammates],” Duncan said. “It’s probably changed a little bit in the modern game.”
It did not take long for Lappin and Scott, who coached the milestone man in all but his first season when he played under Mark Thompson, to trust the dedicated Duncan who has been as reliable as the haircut he’s rolled with for the past 10 years.
His teammates knew he would hit them on the chest with kicks so perfectly weighted that marking Duncan’s passes became like catching a balloon.
Not only did he possess an excellent footy IQ – which he has willingly shared with younger teammates in a few VFL appearances this season – but he was unflappable, the sort of character who rarely sweats if he misses a kick, confident he will hit the next one because he has done the work to ensure he executes his skills correctly more often than not.
“I never try and put too much pressure on myself. I’m always confident or have an inner belief that I’ve done the work during the week to be able to go out and perform,” Duncan said.
“You know, you can’t change the past either. I was lucky I have never really dwelled too much on that.”
Dwelling on the past is what milestone matches are all about, so despite Duncan’s reluctance, his career is worth a quick recap.
From Western Australia, he was selected with pick 28 in the 2009 national draft, but broke into a reigning premiership team in round one for the first of eight games of 2010.
He played in a premiership in his second season before he turned 21 coming on as the sub to kick a critical running goal in the third quarter when the game was hot. He then won his second flag 11 seasons later as a veteran in the 2022 premiership alongside three players – Joel Selwood, Tom Hawkins and Harry Taylor – who were alongside him on his debut.
Mitch Duncan morphed into a Geelong great: tough and dependable. Credit: AFL Photos
He kicked a goal in each of the three grand finals he has played in and has a remarkable 70 per cent winning record over his career. Not only that he’s placed in the club best and fairest award twice and finished top-10 seven times.
Meanwhile, he and wife Demi had their fourth child last year when Parker joined Scarlett, Ollie and Archie in the Duncan tribe.
That family has been crucial to his longevity and enjoyment of the game during a time when every action a footballer makes is scrutinised beyond reason.
“[With a family] you are never fully focused in on footy … you are a dad first as well,” Duncan said.
“The first thing Ollie sometimes says after a footy game is ‘why did you kick it out on the full. I hated that.’ They give me great energy, and I kind of want to keep playing purely for them.”
He understands 2025 will probably be his final season, but is not ready to call time on his career anytime soon, keeping that glimmer of hope alive, as every competitor is entitled to. His energy is spent preparing for coaching, and Lappin has noted his aptitude for that endeavour, praising him earlier this season for the way he embraced playing VFL and the education he gave his teammates at that level.
Duncan said he has enjoyed this year as much as any despite Thursday night being just his fourth AFL match for the season.
“I’m setting up as though it is my last year, just in case, and doing all the things I can to make my transition as easy as possible when that time comes. That’s what has kept me refreshed, and it’s helping my footy,” Duncan said.
“It’s hard to say you’re not going to play. But it’s hard for me to say that I’m gonna play.”
What he will do on Thursday night is start in the 22. And – win, lose or draw – give his friends, family and club an excuse to celebrate and reminisce about that 50-metre torpedo goal Duncan kicked on the half-time siren against the Eagles in 2016. The kick should be at least 70 metres by the time the night is over.
Show of support
Geelong’s players learned about the death of Adam Selwood on Saturday hours before they played Port Adelaide. The tragic news rocked players and staff given their close connection to the Selwood family through Adam’s brother Joel, the Cats’ record-breaking former captain.
Duncan’s love for the Selwood family runs deep, his connection with siblings Troy, Adam, Joel and Scott and parents Bryce and Maree built over a 15-year friendship.
Joel Selwood is chaired off by Tom Hawkins and Mitch Duncan following his 350th game.Credit: AFL Photos
“It’s been a sad, sad three months,” Duncan said, referencing the passing of Troy in February and Adam at the weekend.
He said those Cats players who knew the family well dealt with their preparation for the match in their own way, knowing the match had to go on.
“I know what Joel would want, and they would want us to go out there and perform at our best and get a win really. And that’s what we were lucky enough to do,” Duncan said.
“It’s really sad. I’m devastated for the family.
“What I try and do is give him (Joel) the space he needs, and when he wants to talk, I’m ready. I’m here for him. I’m here for ‘Scoot’ (Scott) and their family. I suppose everyone at the three clubs are probably in a similar boat, giving him space and letting him know that we’re here if he needs us.
“We’re here to support when we need and grieve with him as best we can,” Duncan said.
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