Mitchell Morton (born 28 January 1987) is a former

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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player who last played for the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

Career

Morton was initially drafted by the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

as he is the son of Noel Morton, who played 171 WAFL games for Claremont. At the end of the 2007 season,

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

traded Morton to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

for the number 35 draft pick in the 2007 AFL draft. Morton was prominent and vital member of the Tigers squad, winning the Michael Roach medal as the leading goal kicker for the club this season (2009) with 41 goals. Morton fell out of favour in 2011, only managing 9 games. He was subsequently traded to the

on 17 October 2011 for draft pick #79. In his first year on the Swans' list, he played the vast majority of the year in the reserves side in the NEAFL. Despite kicking bags of goals on a regular basis, Morton was denied his debut in the seniors side until very late in the season. Halfway through the year he was told that in order to have any chance of winning a spot in the seniors side he had to improve specific parts of his game that had nothing to do with his goal kicking. Having improved sufficiently in those areas along with an injury to Ben McGlynn, Morton was able to secure a spot in the Sydney side for the finals. He kicked 2 goals in the Qualifying final against the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

and another 2 in the

2012 AFL Grand Final The 2012 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2012. It was the 117th annual grand final of the Australian Football ...

against the

Hawthorn Hawks The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, Mulgrave, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded ...

, justifying the gamble the Swans took on him. Towards the end of the 2013 AFL season, Morton announced his retirement, to pursue a career in the corporate sector.

Personal life

A former student of

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to b ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Mitch is the brother of Jarryd, who played for

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

, and Cale, who has played for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct as end of round 22 season 2014''Mitch Morton's player profile at AFL Tables
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2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 3 , , 1 , , 1 , , 13 , , 7 , , 20 , , 9 , , 0 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 4.3 , , 2.3 , , 6.7 , , 3.0 , , 0.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 1 , , 1 , , 0 , , 7 , , 4 , , 11 , , 4 , , 3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.0 , , 4.0 , , 11.0 , , 4.0 , , 3.0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 8 , , 9 , , 1 , , 64 , , 42 , , 106 , , 37 , , 11 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 8.0 , , 5.3 , , 13.3 , , 4.6 , , 1.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 17 , , 35 , , 16 , , 131 , , 60 , , 191 , , 80 , , 36 , , 2.1 , , 0.9 , , 7.7 , , 3.5 , , 11.2 , , 4.7 , , 2.1 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 21 , , 41 , , 26 , , 188 , , 123 , , 311 , , 119 , , 56 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , 9.0 , , 5.9 , , 14.8 , , 5.7 , , 2.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 12 , , 12 , , 12 , , 113 , , 93 , , 206 , , 52 , , 39 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 9.4 , , 7.8 , , 17.2 , , 4.3 , , 3.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 9 , , 6 , , 1 , , 63 , , 49 , , 112 , , 23 , , 26 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 7.0 , , 5.4 , , 12.4 , , 2.6 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 5 , , 5 , , 2 , , 23 , , 19 , , 42 , , 13 , , 15 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 4.6 , , 3.8 , , 8.4 , , 2.6 , , 3.0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 7 , , 6 , , 5 , , 36 , , 33 , , 69 , , 14 , , 20 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 5.1 , , 4.7 , , 9.9 , , 2.0 , , 2.9 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 83 ! 116 ! 64 ! 638 ! 430 ! 1068 ! 351 ! 206 ! 1.4 ! 0.8 ! 7.7 ! 5.2 ! 12.9 ! 4.2 ! 2.5

References

External links

* *
WAFL playing statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Mitch 1987 births Living people West Coast Eagles players Richmond Football Club players Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans Premiership players Claremont Football Club players People educated at Hale School Australian rules footballers from Western Australia People from Lake Grace, Western Australia Perth Football Club players Coburg Football Club players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players