A NORTH Broken Hill junior in Kobe Mutch will return to the Woodville West Torrens Eagles in the SANFL for the 2025 campaign.
Already among a multitude of “Silver City” Australian Rules footballers across more than century who have enjoyed SANFL premiership success in Adelaide, Mutch has spent the past two seasons at the South Adelaide Panthers, after having his first two seasons at Woodville Oval with the Eagles.
“We are excited that Kobe has returned to our club,” senior coach and 200-game tri-club AFL footballer Sam “Sauce” Jacobs said.
“He has the ability to play both as an inside and an outside midfielder, being great at the stoppages.
“We had a senior trial against West Adelaide on December 18, at Hisense Stadium (Richmond Oval), and Kobe was ultra impressive.
“Now 26, Kobe is moving into the prime of his career.”
Before coming to the SANFL competition, Mutch played TAC Cup Under 18s football with the Bendigo Pioneers.
He was selected by Essendon with pick No. 42 in the 2016 AFL National Draft, playing five games at the top level.
His first season of SANFL in 2021 proved to be very fruitful for Mutch.
In the ’21 Grand Final, he was a vital member of the Woodville West Torrens midfield, as the club collected the ultimate prize, lifting the Thomas Seymour Hill trophy as league premiers.
After a thrilling second semi-final win, the Eagles dominated the season decider at Adelaide Oval from the outset, having the result in hand from early in the third term.
“It is certainly one of the highlights of my career so far to be a SANFL premiership player,” Mutch said.
“Playing footy in South Australia gave me an understanding of how much passion there is for the game in this city.
“When I was a lad it was all about playing AFL, but coming here you get understanding of the quality of the footy and what the achievement of winning a flag means.”
Mutch confirmed he enjoyed a handful of junior flags with North Broken Hill at Under 12s and 13s level, with teammates including Isaac Cumming and Lachlan Tiziani.
“The previous flag I played in was with the Wentworth Roos Under 16s,” Mutch said.
“After playing in the seniors during the season I qualified for the colts team to play in the finals and we beat Irymple by three points.”
He is keen to add to his ’21 success in the 2025 campaign.
