Brody Mihocek

Brody Mihocek (born 4 February 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected at pick #22 in the 2018 rookie draft.[1] He made his senior debut against Fremantle in round 11 of the 2018 season, kicking 4 goals.[2] Mihocek was also Collingwood's leading goalkicker in 2019 and 2020.

Brody Mihocek
Mihocek playing for Collingwood in August 2018
Personal information
Nickname(s) Checkers
Date of birth (1993-02-04) 4 February 1993
Place of birth Tasmania
Original team(s) Port Melbourne
Draft No. 22 2018 rookie draft
Debut Collingwood
vs. Fremantle, at MCG
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 94 kg (207 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club Collingwood
Number 41
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2018– Collingwood 58 (90)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2020 season.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Before arriving in the AFL Mihocek played for the Burnie Dockers Football Club.[3]

Early life

Mihocek played for Tasmania in the 2011 AFL Under 18 Championships, in which Tasmania were the Division 2 premiers, and was selected in the 2011 Under 18 All-Australian team at centre half-back.[4][5] However he was overlooked in the 2011 AFL draft. He then played for the Burnie Dockers, and was part of their 2012 Tasmanian State League (TSL) flag, kicking a goal in the Grand Final.[6] After this he decided to move to Melbourne and started playing with Maribyrnong Park in the Essendon District Football League (EDFL) for the 2013 season, in the hopes of securing a place in the Victorian Football League (VFL). This was successful and prior to the 2014 season he was offered a spot on the list of the VFL side Werribee.

VFL career

In 2014, Mihocek signed with Victorian Football League (VFL) club Werribee for 2 seasons, but when Werribee became fully aligned with AFL side North Melbourne, Mihocek sought a move to another club. He met with Port Melbourne coach Gary Ayres, and crossed over to Port Melbourne searching for team success.[7] Mihocek played 33 games for Port Melbourne over 2 seasons, being awarded the Jack McFarlane medal for the club's best and fairest in 2016, and played a key role Port Melbourne's 2017 VFL Premiership, being impressive both in attack and defence during his tenure.[8] At the conclusion of the 2017 season, the AFL side Collingwood made the move to draft Mihocek, selecting him with pick #22 in the rookie draft.

AFL career

Mihocek primarily plays as a tall marking centre half-forward in the AFL, but can move into defence to play on a key forward, or play behind the ball to be an intercept player if needed to. At the forefront of Mihocek's gameplay is a strong mark which allows him to play in both defence and attack as a tall, as well as possessing considerable goalkicking skills. Additionally, he is also capable of floating up onto a wing and play a link-up role to send the ball inside the forward 50. Perhaps the most notable facet of his game, his work ethic, is what sets him apart as he's constantly running, applying pressure and positioning himself in the forward half.

2018

Collingwood had been watching Mihocek closely in the Victorian Football League (VFL), and chose him as pick 22 in the 2018 rookie draft. While he played primarily as a defender in the VFL, he made his debut as a tall forward against Fremantle in round 11 of the 2018 season to immediate effect, kicking 4 goals, the only player to kick 4 goals on debut in AFL/VFL history. [9] He found himself a regular in Collingwood's best 22, playing every remaining game in the season, including the finals series and the Grand Final loss against West Coast where he kicked 1 goal. He finished the season with 29 goals from 16 games.

2019

Off the back of an impressive debut season, Mihocek was a walk-up starter for Collingwood, arguably the most important person in their forward line with his marking prowess, running and work-ethic great assets. As Collingwood struggled with injuries and suspensions to a host of their forwards, Mihocek's importance to Collingwood was underlined, as he played every game for the season and led Collingwood's goalkicking with 36 goals, including 5 bags of 4 goals. However his 2019 season would end on a sour note, just like Collingwood's, as he was completely shut out of the game in a wet scrap, only collecting 2 disposals in their loss to Greater Western Sydney. He also received 4 Brownlow Medal votes in 2019.

2020

The reigning leading goalkicker for Collingwood, Mihocek started 2020 in top form, and was leading the Coleman Medal during round 6 with 12 goals. However, after this Mihocek struggled with inconsistent form, as did the Magpies, and only managed 8 goals from the remaining 10 games he played in the home and away season. This poor showing was compounded after a sickening collision with Melbourne's Aaron vandenBerg in the first quarter of their round 12 match left Mihocek knocked out cold. This resulted in him missing round 13, the first time he had missed a game since his debut, putting an end to a run of 52 consecutive games. Mihocek returned to form in the first week of the 2020 Finals series with a 3 goal performance, and was Collingwood's best player in the tense final quarter, getting on top of Jeremy McGovern to kick 2 goals, and at the end of the match moving behind the ball, cutting off West Coast inside 50's to help get Collingwood over the line. The following week he kicked 2 late goals as the Magpies were dominated by Geelong. Mihocek ended the season with 25 goals from 18 games, leading Collingwood's goalkicking for the second consecutive year.

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season[10]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2018 Collingwood 411629181275818579331.81.17.93.611.64.92.1
2019 Collingwood 41243626213102315141491.51.18.94.213.15.92.0
2020 Collingwood 41182591104815868331.40.56.12.78.83.81.8
Career 58 90 53 450 208 658 288 115 1.6 0.9 7.8 3.6 11.3 5.0 2.0

References
  1. Gabelich, Josh (1 June 2018), "The long way to the top: Three VFL clubs, two states, one long-awaited debut for Brody Mihocek", Fox Sports
  2. Fair, Alex (4 June 2018), "Bucks' praise for Mihocek", The Advocate
  3. Fair, Alex (23 September 2019). "Preliminary pain for Magpie Brody Mihocek". The Advocate.
  4. Metro dominate AA selections Archived 10 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine – afl.com.au. Written by Jason Phelan. Published 9 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  5. 2011 U18 All Australian Side – contestedfooty.com. Written by James Rose. Published 13 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  6. https://www.tasmanianstateleague.com.au/2012-season/
  7. https://www.sen.com.au/news/2018/07/19/mature-magpie-mihocek-recalls-his-prolonged-passage-to-the-afl/
  8. https://www.portmelbournefc.com.au/brody-mihocek-set-to-make-afl-debut-with-collingwood/
  9. https://afltables.com/afl/stats/alltime/misc_goals.html
  10. "Brody Mihocek". AFL Tables. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
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