Injured defender Ben Paton has revealed that Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell was among a number of opposition players to reach out following his season-ending leg injury.

Speaking as part of a Saints Pass live Q&A, presented by AIA Australia, the 22-year-old said that the star Hawk – along with Bulldogs Dale Morris and Mitch Wallis – had been pivotal in helping him through the recovery process.

Paton snapped both his fibula and tibia in an intra-club match in February, ruling him out for the entirety of Season 2021.

“They reached out, it was good to hear from other players who have been through the same sort of thing,” Paton said on Saints Pass.

“Their advice has sort of been, get the balance right, don’t over-do footy at the moment, in the early stages of it – be mentally fresh and have that release outside of football.

“It’s a long process, and they’ve been happy to get in contact with me whenever I want. They’ve been good.”

Mitchell, Wallis and Morris have all suffered similar injuries to that of Paton, with all three returning to the field the following season.

With football off the cards for the remainder of the year, the 35-gamer has been using the time away from football to catch up on his studies at university.

“As soon as I did it, uni started, so I picked up a bit more uni,” Paton said.

“It was good, I hadn’t really done a lot, pre-that. I’d only really done one subject per semester, so I’m doing more subjects, and trying to get on top of that.

“With my rehab, it’ll slowly pick up from now. The club has said I can be pretty flexible, go away for a week in the middle of the year. I’d like to do a few more roles within the club.

“At the moment, it’s pretty slow, but hopefully in the next few weeks, start to build my rehab, and get a bit more involved in the footy side of things.”

Saints Pass members who missed the event, or wish to re-watch it, will be sent a link to the full live recording via email.

This live event – featuring Paton, Max King and Jarryd Roughead – will be the first of many featuring coaches, players and personnel from the club. Members will be able to ask questions in real time and get all the latest information direct from the Saints. 

All membership packages include Saints Pass. If you wish to sign up for a Saints Pass, please head to saintsmembership.com.au to find out more.