ALASTAIR Clarkson must have liked what he saw, watching on from the MCG stands.

As far as September goes, Sydney hard nut Tom Mitchell has been superb.

But for the natural ball-winner, this month was never about job auditions.

He just wants a flag.

After pulverising Geelong with a crushing seven-goal opening term on Friday night, the man who revealed some frustrations about his first few years in Sydney desperately wants to help his team secure the silverware that he missed out on being part of in 2012.

Remember, the out-of-contract onballer was made to wait until his fourth season to finally settle his senior position, despite racking up record-numbers in the NEAFL most weeks.

Now that the 23-year-old is a part of the Swans’ midfield heartbeat there was no way, Mitchell said, he would let the impending big decision on his future affect his performance on the big stage.

media_camera Tom Mitchell was a standout in the preliminary final win over Geelong. Picture: George Salpigtidis

Even with Clarkson no doubt looking over his every move on Friday night.

“You don’t think about it (trade to Hawthorn) when you are focusing so hard on preparing to play each week, especially around finals time,” Mitchell said.

“Your focus is just on preparing well and doing everything you can so the team can get the win, and that is all my focus is on at the moment.”

The argument that Mitchell is dispensable to Sydney, given its massive clutch of gun midfielders including rising stars Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills, took a hit on Friday night as Mitchell produced one of the best quarters of his 64-game career, to spark the Swans and take all ascendancy away from the Cats’ superstar midfield contingent, led by Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood.

“Your focus is just on preparing well and doing everything you can so the team can get the win, and that is all my focus is on at the moment.”

- Tom Mitchell

But Mitchell said Friday night’s game was a much broader midfield battle.

“It is always a tough job to beat guys who are such stars of the game, and we try to do it as a collective,” Mitchell said.

“In finals games we set ourselves for the first quarter and tried to go again from there and we had a lot of guys step up through the midfield and all over the ground really, and that’s why it was a great team win.

“Geelong had their period throughout the third quarter where they sort of got on top and fought back again, but that’s what finals games are like and you just have to go as hard as you can for as long as you can.”

At one point in the first term, the 181cm star somehow evaded four Cats tacklers inside a shoebox in the Sydney forward line, and shot out a bullet handball to Luke Parker in space to seal their third goal of the game.

media_camera Tom Mitchell flew back to Sydney today with his teammates with only a Grand Final on his mind. Picture: David Crosling

For Hawthorn, that hard ball ability is perfect. And West Coast and Gold Coast have also emerged over the weekend as keen suitors for the West Australian’s cleanness and hardness in a stoppage.

He also knocked back a big deal from Carlton two years ago.

But it wasn’t always the way.

After being drafted in 2011 as a father-son gem, Mitchell told the Herald Sun his early years at the Swans were a challenge as he tried to stay patient and earn his spot.

But it was hard playing in regional venues in New South Wales, instead of the SCG, most weeks.

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“At the time it was very frustrating, you always want to playing senior footy, and at the highest level,” Mitchell said.

“So, yeah, that was a little bit frustrating, but that is in the past now.

“It made me a little bit (hungrier), but I had to just keep improving all parts of my game and hopefully I’ve been able to do that. We are into a big Grand Final next week and I can’t wait.”

One of Sydney’s most respected inside midfielders, and premiership star Jude Bolton, on Saturday said he rated Mitchell “extremely highly”, especially for the way the prized midfielder had become a more rounded player.

media_camera The Sydney midfield was all over Geelong on Friday night. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“His game against the Cats had the perfect balance, really, of clean and composed inside work, and just smart ball use and defensive effort as well,” Bolton told the Herald Sun.

“He has become such a major player in that Sydney midfield and his first quarter was just enormous.

“He has always been able to win the footy, but now there is more composure as well.

“He has got the smarts to have an impact forward and he can play a shutdown role as well.”

Bolton understands Mitchell’s decision to hold off on contract talks and assess his options.

“All Swans’ people harbour hopes that he will hang around and they’re obviously getting the squeeze from the salary cap (perspective),” Bolton said.

“But you have also got to look at (the opportunity to have) a successful period as well (at Sydney), because they have got a really good young midfield group that will play a lot of footy together.”