Andrew Newbold on whether Sam Mitchell would accept the 2012 Brownlow Medal

Outgoing Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold says he’d expect Sam Mitchell to accept the 2012 Brownlow Medal, should Jobe Watson be stripped of it.

But he says it’d be with a ‘heavy’ heart.

A decision over the medal is set to be made shortly, with questions raised over Watson’s eligibility, given the subsequent doping ban he’s been handed for what took place at Essendon that season.

There’s been plenty of debate as to whether a retrospective winner should be announced – if Watson loses the medal – with Hawthorn champion Mitchell finishing runner-up in the award that year.

Speaking on 3AW’s Sports Today, Newbold said he thought Mitchell would accept the medal, despite the issues surrounding it.

‘I feel terribly sad for Jobe,’ Newbold said on Sports Today.

‘It’s a really personal decision for Sam and I’m sure he’s mulled that over.

‘He would probably take it.

‘But I imagine it would be with a heavy heart.’

Newbold also spoke in detail about his decision to step aside.

Click PLAY below to hear Andrew Newbold on Sports Today.