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Sport Nation
Thought I’d be a Pie: How draft slide got Mitch Robinson to Carlton
SEN • June 22nd, 2025 5:25 pm
Former Carlton and Brisbane midfielder Mitch Robinson expected his career to start at Collingwood.
While he was taken at pick No. 40 in the 2008 Draft out of Tassie by the Blues, Robinson expected to be selected by Collingwood with their second selection, which turned out to be pick No. 29.
Robinson believed he’d be a Magpie after interviewing with then-coach Mick Malthouse before the club told him they’d select him if he was still available in the 20s.
While Robinson hadn’t been selected when pick 29 rolled around and Collingwood was on the clock, they instead opted to take Dayne Beams, a player who’d end up becoming an All-Australian, premiership-winner and best and fairest in black and white.
It was then 11 picks later when the Blues swooped despite never speaking to them in the pre-draft process.
“I think I talked to every team, kind of bar Carlton, I didn’t know much about them apart from the superstars they had like Juddy, Fev and Eddie Betts,” Robinson told This is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.
“But I got along most with Mick Malthouse, I interviewed with him … and the night before the draft they (Collingwood) said they were going to take me pick 20-something.
“So, all the Tassie Media came up to my house and I thought I was going to go top 10 or 20. Then that didn’t happen, and I was getting nervous because I thought, these clubs had done their homework on me.
“I went past 20, and they (Collingwood) didn't take me to take Dayne Beams, so that’s a fair bloke to go in front of me.
“So then at 40, my name got read out by the Blues, and I was just like, ‘Oh my goodness. I'm going to Melbourne. I'm going to play for one of the biggest clubs in the country’.”
After being taken by the Blues, Robinson was over the moon to be heading to Carlton before being called by club greats Brendan Fevola and Chris Judd.
Even though his manager warned him to keep a lid on his celebrations, the young Tasmanian ended up enjoying quite the night out as draft day quickly became the best day of his life to that point.
“Fev called me, Juddy called me, and it was honestly the best day of my life,” Robinson said.
“Then my manager called me and he goes, ‘Alright, you've been drafted, whatever you do, don't go out and celebrate too hard, you're getting on a plane in a couple of days and you're going down to the Great Ocean Road joint training camp’.
“I was like, ‘Yep, of course, mate, no problem. I'm just going to stay home with the family and have a couple of celebratory drinks’.
“But then little Mitchell, he went out to town and got absolutely blind … I wish I was a little bit smarter back in the day.”
Robinson played 100 games for the Blues from 2009 to 2014 before featuring 147 times for Brisbane from 2015 to 2022.
