This weekend the Club celebrates Mitchell Blow’s 100th open-age game for the Pennant Hills Demons.
Mitch played junior footy with the Westbrook Bulldogs. From a soccer background, Mitch came to Westbrook in 2013 at his mate, Bailey Miedler’s, urging; he “kept hassling me to come down and give footy a go, and I’ve never looked back.” From 2013 to 2016, Mitch played 44 games for the Bulldogs and was also selected in the North West reps in 2015 and 2016.
At age 17, Mitch joined Penno Under 19s in 2017 playing a total of 26 games over 2 seasons. He was runner-up Best & Fairest in his first season and went one better in 2018, winning the Best & Fairest in his second season. During this period, he got a taste of men’s football in reserves and lower grades.
Mitch was a member of the Premier Division Reserves 2018 premiership side and was amongst the team’s best in the Grand Final victory over Sydney University. This victory was of particular importance for the Club and for Coach Jason Clarke.
Up until 2018, Penno Reserves had competed in 9 grand finals with a win/loss ratio of 2/7. Penno had won two flags in the 90s, 1994 and 1996, and since then had been runners-up. Incredibly, three of those losses (and the 1996 win) were by a single point and the most recent result at the time had been a one point loss to Sydney University in 2015. Uni had finished 5th that year and for Penno and Clarkey, it was definitely the ‘One that got away!’
Thankfully in 2018 … the Demons finished as they had started … “strong and defiant”, beating Uni by 15 pts. And then at Presentation Night Clarkey declared that the curse of Silva Monahan was dead!
His good height and obvious talent caught the eye of senior coach Chris Yard and Mitch was selected for the Premier Division side in 2019, debuting in Round 1. Blowy has proven to be a versatile player. He started his first grade career as a forward before going into the backline and currently spends most of his time in the ruck.
Since his debut, he has played the majority of his footy in the senior side and has garnered 6 seasons of experience in the top grade. Still only 24 years old, his experience and obvious leadership qualities have earned him the role of co-captain this season.
Mitch is at the forefront of a new generation of Penno players coming through the ranks after the retirement of many of the club’s renowned veterans who had hundreds of games experience and loads of finals experience as well. The average age of the current playing group is in the mid-20s and there are a number of players still in their teens.
Mitch has won the Premier Division Best & Fairest (Ern Holmes Trophy) in consecutive years 2023 and 2022, testimony to his obvious football talent, skill and consistency over the past few seasons. With the return of representative football in 2024, Mitch was selected in the AFL Men’s Representative Team that competed in Canberra in May.
Like so many others, Blowy rates Ranga Ediriwickrama as a “clear standout” as the best he’s played with … Reggie’s “footy IQ is second to none”. And as to the toughest opponent, Mitch says he’s “pretty happy that the little bulldozer, former Eagle Brandon Clark, is now playing for Penno!”
As for career hIghlights … “obviously the 2018 Ressies flag, as an 18 year old coming into such a mature and skilful side was incredible. I learnt a lot from playing senior footy that year and to win the flag was amazing. Another marvellous highlight was playing alongside dad in a Div 3 match in 2018. We’ve played a lot of cricket together, dad and I, but we never had much of an opportunity to play footy together. When we did, it was a great day to be able to play alongside him, something we will never forget.”
And to round out the Blow family’s affiliation with the Club, Mitch’s sister Jasmine has been part of the women’s program since 2020. Jasmine has played 46 games for Penno and in Round 11 this season, she debuted in the Women’s Premier Division team. And, in 2021, Sue and Nigel Blow were awarded the Presidents Trophy for their unstinting service to the club.
Prems Coach Ben Roberts sums things up nicely … “Mitch leads by example and has quickly become one of the premier players of our competition. He is fierce in the contest, big set of hands, booming left peg and tackles very well for a bloke his size. (196 cm) He has won our last 2 best & fairest, represented AFL Sydney vs Canberra, made team of the year and has been voted as our joint captain. All remarkable efforts for his age of 24. While Blowy has made the ruck role his own, he can also go forward and kick goals and play key back if required.” He is a great role-model for his teammates.
Congratulations Blowy on achieving this significant milestone!
Go Penno!