Collingwood recruit Tom Mitchell is yet to start his pre-season training at his new club but has already started forming relationships with his Magpie teammates.
While he met many of them on his first day at the AIA Centre, he already had a bond with fellow Magpies recruit Dan McStay after the pair met in America over the off-season.
Even though they were destined to become teammates, Mitchell and McStay never planned to meet on their holidays, with their encounter happening by chance.
“It was bizarre,” Mitchell said SEN Breakfast.
“Probably the first person I saw in America was Dan McStay.”
After ending up in the States alone to start his trip, Mitchell explained that he spotted McStay at an NBA game in Los Angeles and was quick to strike up a friendship with his soon-to-be teammate.
“I was traveling to America with Tom Phillips, who you all know,” Mitchell told Collingwood’s website.
“He didn’t do his ESTA form, so he wasn’t allowed on the plane.
“So, I went to America the first day by myself, and I thought it would be a good idea to go to the basketball because I love the NBA.
“So I went to the Staples Center, which is called the Crypto Center now in LA and lined up to get a ticket.
“The first person I saw there was Dan McStay, we sort of made eye contact and I asked him, ‘When’s your trade going through?’, he said, ‘About five minutes’.
“I thought, ‘Okay, well let’s go watch some basketball and wait for the trade to go through and have a beer together’.
“So, we did that, so I actually know Dan now, which is cool.”
Collingwood will hope Mitchell and McStay’s connection translates to the football field with the midfielder set to deliver the ball to his new forward target in the black and white.
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