Mitch Cleary on becoming the No.1 ticket holder of rising local club Belmont Lions

Eyebrows were raised in April when Channel 7 chief footy reporter Mitch Cleary was announced as the No. 1 ticket holder for Belmont Lions – a club in the third strongest league of Geelong local footy.

The Lions had finished ninth the previous season with just six wins for the season.

But they have flipped the script with Cleary behind them in 2024, with both the seniors and reserves undefeated after five games.

His pre-season video to the players ahead of round one saw them knock off the reigning premiers Inverleigh in both the seniors and reserves that weekend.

However, Cleary conceded he has been unable to live up to his title just yet due to his media commitments.

“I wish I could say I had a big part to play but I haven’t had anything to do with it at all,” Cleary said.

“Maybe my lucky charm is not actually going.

“I’ve been chatting to the boys throughout the pre-season and I was hearing about the recruiting and the pre-season had been going really well.

“In the next few weeks I’m hoping to get to a couple of games and keen to see what all the buzz is about.

“But I’m hearing good reports. It is almost like you’re getting your weekly reports from the boys in a couple of group chats, good to stay across it and keep involved.”

Hailing from the Geelong region, Cleary has strong connections to the club, namely through close mate Kieran Hodge who coaches the Lions’ reserves side.

Cleary knocked back the Lions’ advances in 2023 and said to call again next year – a story that is all too familiar in the footy landscape.

“They asked me 12 months ago and I said, ‘give me 12 months’, and here we are,” Cleary said.

“Kieran Hodge is a good mate of mine, I’ve known him through for a few mates down Torquay way for a long time. Then David Marks who is on the committee and Daniel French is a good mate too and even players on the playing list like Ben Evans.

Lions co-president Rhett Smith hopes he can put Cleary’s skills to good use down at the club this year.

“It would be good for him to get down to some events and do some interviews with some past players or whatever it is,” Smith said.

“It was good to finally land him and hopefully the club and past players and everyone else get some enjoyment out of having a chat to him.”

But there was talk of betrayal given his allegiances to St Mary’s in the Geelong Football League.

“Playing at St Mary’s and still got good connections there, being in a different league now I’ve almost got a foot in a few camps now that you’ve got a GFL team and a GDFL team,” Cleary said.

“They are flying at the moment and a couple of boys messaged me and had a joke about it but I think they understand different leagues opens the doors for different opportunities.”

One thing Cleary didn’t count on with his move was a family rivalry.

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Just after his move was locked in, his cousin, Patrick Cleary, moved from North Shore in the GFNL to North Geelong in the GDFNL.

It sets up a ‘Cleary Cup’ between Belmont Lions and North Geelong on May 25.

“We played together at St Mary’s and he went to North Shore and he has now signed this year for North Geelong, so it is going to be funny when Belmont play North Geelong in a couple of weeks with the family rivalry,” Cleary chuckled.

Originally published as Mitch Cleary on becoming the No.1 ticket holder of rising local club Belmont Lions