The best team in the O&M has snapped up a true talent, with reigning premiers Wangaratta Rovers landing one of the biggest signings of the off-season in Mitch Hardie. Announced last week, Rovers confirmed the VFL superstar would play out of WJ Findlay Oval for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, a massive boost to an already potent engine room. Hailing from Leeton, NSW, Hardie established a name for himself in the SANFL with Woodville-West Torrens, before he was picked up by Geelong with Pick 7 during the 2023 AFL Mid-Season Draft. He would play two seasons with the Cats, averaging 29 disposals throughout the 2024 VFL season, earning him a place on the half forward flank in the 2024 VFL Team of the Year. Hardie played the 2025 season with Casey Demons, helping them make it to the semi-finals and finishing third in the Casey B&F count. Rovers football operations manager Mario Antonello said multiple links to the region played a part in Hardie putting pen to paper for the brown and gold. “Mitch’s parents live in Wangaratta, they’ve been here for probably three years,” he said. “We had some connections to Mitch through [former Rovers football operations manager] Barry Sullivan, he’s very close to Pat Dangerfield, and when Mitch finished up at Geelong, Barry started communications with him a couple of years ago. “I know there were quite a few teams who were talking to Mitch over the course of the past five or six months. “We initiated conversations back then and we were aware there were other clubs, not only within the Ovens and Murray but also some VFL clubs and teams scattered throughout Victoria and South Australia who were trying to get Mitch over to them. “It was nice to finally get the signature and be able to prepare a little better for 2026.” While his football IQ, strength at the contest and leadership skills may have attracted suitor clubs, Antonello said they pursued Hardie because he was the perfect fit for the club’s culture on and off the field. “We had quite a long dinner, sort of two- or three-hour dinner with him down in Melbourne, and we all left that meeting that night thinking we definitely want this guy to be part of the club,” Antonello said. “He’s just a really nice natured person, very intelligent, very relaxed demeanour, and it fits in really well with us because we’ve got such a young group, we don’t want massive personalities coming in and disrupting things while things are going really well for us. “We just continued on the same path, and Mitch really fits our mould of what we were looking for in a new recruit, so we’re rapt to have him for two years, that’s for sure. “His initial signing is for a couple of years but we see Mitch as a bit of a long-term leader for the club, he’s played a lot of footy.” Despite having the fewest player points to field a team with, the Rovers will still be able to slot Hardie into the senior squad with relative ease Having a player with the class of Hardie winning the ball in the guts will allow the Rovers' other elite mids to influence the game elsewhere on the ground. “Having Mitch run around in our midfield allows a bit more flexibility for Sam Murray, Brodie Filo, Charlie Thompson to rotate forward a bit more,” Antonello said. “I honestly believe that Wang Rovers next year have got the best one-point players in the competition. “Sam Murray, Jace McQuade, Alex McCarthy, Keiren Parnell next season, Tom Boyd, Will Nolan – all these boys are one-point players, so to be able to have so much quality and have a sprinkling of players like Mitch Hardie, Lochie O’Brien, Nathan Cooper, and those guys around is a really good mix for us.”
