Geelong coach Chris Scott says he couldn’t confirm the severity of Tom Hawkins’ left foot injury but admitted they were “concerned” amid question marks on the 35-year old Cats champion’s future.
Hawkins limped from his side’s 63-point loss to Carlton on Friday night in the third quarter after going down with the innocuous injury and didn’t return before he was seen on crutches post-match.
It’s the same foot Hawkins underwent surgery on at the end of the 2022 season that heavily disrupted his 2023 campaign as the club will nervously await scans.
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“I can’t say the news is good news, but I’m not saying it’s bad either,” Scott told reporters post-match on Friday night.
“He had to come off with a mid-foot issue, he has had a problem with his toe. It’s a fair way away from that, it’s not the same injury, but the experts we have don’t know so I certainly don’t have anything more to add.
“Yeah (it is the same foot he had surgery on), but I’d encourage you to not make that leap. To make that connection I think is a little premature.”
The Geelong coach wasn’t willing to speculate on the possibility that Hawkins had played his last game in 2024.
“They’re not saying that – and I certainly don’t want to say anything that alleviates the concern – because we’re concerned. But I don’t want to jump to conclusions either,” Scott added.
“I get that you have to speculate, but you’d appreciate it’d be dangerous for me to.”
It came on a night Hawkins was well held by Jacob Weitering in his 359th game, kept goalless with three disposals before exiting the contest with less than five minutes left in the third term.
It continued a tough season for the veteran forward, who’s been down on his previous enormous heights with 15 goals from 12 AFL matches.
Scott believes Hawkins was “looking good” earlier this year but admitted he was “a bit reflective of where we’re at the moment” after the Cats dropped their sixth game from their last seven.
“We’ve taken him out of some games. We won a game earlier in the year comprehensively and we took him out for that and you wonder if it would’ve carried the confidence forward,” he said.
“He’s been struggling a bit but he’s not on his own.”
Demons great Garry Lyon held fears that Hawkins’ incredible career was “rapidly coming to an end” in a reality he believes has quickly crept up on the Cats legend.
“Theres are the discussions that are really hard to have. You’re talking about iconic footballers,” Lyon said post-match on Fox Footy.
“I love and enjoy him and don’t feel bad talking about it in that way. There are some people that would say that’s disrespectful. Well it’s not, because we and I have been as respectful as anyone about Tom.
“But we all know the end comes quickly, it jumps on your back. I hope he can get back before the end of the season, but what he’s been able to do the last month suggests his time is almost up.
“And it is impacting this footy club because he was not competitive tonight against, albeit against Jacob Weitering, but it is at that time now.
“Tom knows this better than me, you or anyone else … his time is rapidly coming to an end. That’s not a criticism, that’s reason to celebrate one of the all-time greats.”
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Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt, who hung up the boots at the end of last season, also believes Hawkins’ form suggests he’s nearing the end.
“It’s reality that you know as a player that you’re not there and not playing well enough,” Riewoldt said.
“He would be looking at his year going: ‘I haven’t played as well as I would’ve liked to’.
“I really hope he gets back because I want to see him get to 800 goals, that’s a really big milestone. And I hope he gets back so he can enjoy a little bit of Tom Hawkins magic as he does finish up his career.”
Hawkins, a three-time premiership player and five-time All-Australian with 796 career goals, earlier this season overtook Joel Selwood to break Geelong’s all-time games record.