Bullets captain Norton reaches 350 games

Mitch Norton has made such an impact already at the Brisbane Bullets that he was an obvious choice as captain for NBL25 as he now prepares to celebrate his 350-game milestone and couldn’t be prouder to be doing so as a new father.

Norton has grown up in the NBL before our very eyes after being born and bred in Townsville and then as an 18-year-old getting to live out his dream of playing for his hometown Crocodiles.

He would end up the Crocs youngest ever captain and played his first 116 NBL games there until the club folded which led to two seasons at the Illawarra Hawks and then joining the Perth Wildcats where he was vice-captain on championship teams in 2019 and 2020.

The tenacious, gutsy and courageous point guard joined the Bullets ahead of NBL24 and now has been appointed captain for NBL25, and is having as significant an impact on games as at any other point in his current 349-game career.

Norton has slotted into the starting point guard role with the Bullets, is defending strongly, is running the team well and stepping up to score and make big shots at critical moments.

He will now celebrate his 350-game milestone on Thursday night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre against Melbourne United and couldn’t be prouder to be doing it with long-time partner Sascha and six-month-old son George by his side.

Reflecting on journey to 350

While Norton's focus is on doing what he can to help Brisbane to a win on Thursday night against Melbourne, reaching the 350-game milestone does present him the chance to reflect a little on the journey to this point.

"It does give you a chance to reflect a little bit. You get text messages from past coaches and teammates leading up to the game, which is really cool to hear from all of them," Norton said.

"I think that's just part of the basketball community as a whole, you always kind of look out for each other and I think that part is really cool.

"It probably won't be until after the game when I'll actually get to sit down and really think about the journey that I've been through, and it is crazy to think I've played that many games.

"It's something I'm really proud of and I've got plenty of people to thank, but none more so than my family."

Sharing it with family

Norton might not have too much of his immediate family who will be able to get down from Far North Queensland for the Thursday night game in Brisbane, but the great bonus of having a team in Cairns still in the NBL is that it's at least close to a homecoming.

It's funny that Cairns have gone from being his biggest rivals early in his career at Townsville to now being his closest away venue to home, and last Saturday night provided Norton the chance to catch up with plenty of friendly faces.

"I'm not sure too many of them will be down for the game, but I did see a lot of them in Cairns last weekend when they were able to drive from Townsville to Cairns," he said.

"So I got to see most of them there which was good so we got to catch up, and I also had some of my best mates from high school there along with my mum and dad, my younger brother and partners and everything. So that was good that it was so close to this milestone."

Being able to now share game nights with not only partner Sascha, but also their six-month-old son George this season at the Bullets is something that Norton is still shaking his head about still being a reality.

"It is really cool that Sascha and I now have George along with us," Norton said.

"Obviously Sasha has been by my side since day one and now George has just rocked up on the scene the last six months.

"It is really cool to have them both at games and after the game no matter if it's a win or loss, you go and pick him up and see him smiling back at you which puts everything back into perspective. It is good to have that outlet, it's been really cool being a dad so far."

Embracing being a father

For Norton and long-time partner Sascha, becoming parents was anything but a smooth process and had some heartbreaking moments, but to now have George in their life is something the Bullets captain can't be more thankful for.

"It honestly is amazing being a dad and it is a feeling I wasn’t sure I would have just because of the fertility issues that we've had in the past," he said.

"Sascha has the tough job of keeping him there at the games because it is quite loud in the venue, but the Bullets have done a fantastic job of setting up a bit of a creche during games where she can drop him off and the babysitters up there do a great job of helping him sleep.

"Then after the game that's my chance to hang out with him and those are the moments that I really cherish."

The other great bonus of being a new dad right now on this Bullets team is that Norton has Casey Prather, Sam McDaniel, Tyrell Harrison and soon to be Tohi Smith-Milner in the same boat with James Batemon also having been a father for a little longer.

"It is really cool that a few of us on the team are new dads now. Casey's son is probably a month or so younger than George and then Tyrell and Sam have kids now as well, and Tohi is pretty close to becoming a dad as well," Norton said.

"It is something cool that we can come to training and if we're going through something we can bring it up with the rest of the guys and we can have a chat about it.

"All the younger guys roll their eyes, but it's fun to have most of the group having either been there and done that, or currently going through the same stuff that you are dealing with."

Already feeling home in Brisbane

Norton might be just a season and seven games into his career at the Bullets, and 18 months into living in Brisbane, but he's already made a home there both with the club and also the city with his young family.

"It does feel like I've been here a while already and I think that's a good thing," Norton said.

"The biggest thing most athletes are looking for is stability and job security, and it's hard to stay in one spot too long whether that's you wanting to go onto bigger and better things, or it's just not working out.

"It can be tricky but we are enjoying Brisbane, our little family is doing really well here and we have a lot of connections here.

"I've got friends from Townsville who have moved to Brisbane so it's cool to reconnect with them and we are really enjoying Brisbane as a whole. And the club is going onto bigger and better things, we're playing in a bigger arena again which is fantastic and the fans have been great as well."

Taking on Melbourne United

Milestone or not on Thursday night and Norton's focus will be on giving the Bullets the best chance to score a first win in 12 attempts against Melbourne United, and to hand them consecutive losses in an NBL regular season for the first time in two years.

"I feel like we've had a couple of teams like this who are coming off a big loss and they want to bounce back, and I think we've learnt from that and in the end for us it doesn’t matter who you are playing, anyone can beat you," Norton said.

"The biggest thing for us is going to be handling their physicality and no one is in a better position to know how they will bounce back than Justin (Schueller) and D-Mac (Darryl McDonald), and some of the guys who have played for Dean (Vickerman) previously.

"They don't normally take two losses in-a-row so we know we'll get their best shot which is what we're looking for at this time of year. We want to have good and tough games, and that's what we know we will get."

Mitch is also participating in Movember to raise funds and awareness for all the dads, brothers, sons and mates in our lives. Click here to donate to support men's health.