Geelong coach Chris Scott has confirmed neither Tom Hawkins nor Cam Guthrie will play in their AFL preliminary final against Brisbane.
The veteran duo had been racing the clock to be fit to return to the senior team before the season — and in the case of Hawkins, his career — ends.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Chris Scott confirms tough call on Geelong veteran duo.
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Retiring three-time premiership player Hawkins suffered an atypical mid-foot joint and ligament injury in Round 15 that threatened to cut his career short there and then.
Guthrie hurt his quad in the opening seconds of the Cats’ first pre-season game this year, returned to play four games in the middle of the year, but has since been battling an Achilles tendon issue.
Both premiership veterans returned to competitive footy for the first time two weekends ago in Geelong’s VFL semi-final loss to Southport.
But despite having had almost two more weeks of training under their belts post that hit-out, Scott says neither of them has done enough to prove they are fit to play seniors.
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“We don’t think that Hawkins and Guthrie and fit and available this week,” Scott said on Talking Footy.
“They’ve done a remarkable job, really, from where they came from to get themselves in the position where we had to think about it a lot.
“But we’ve just made the call to this point that they’re not going to be quite ready.
“But that certainly doesn’t preclude them from being available next week, so that’s exciting for us, if we’re good enough.
“It was a close call, but not close enough that we weren’t confident to make the call by now.”
The 304-game coach lamented having to tell Hawkins and Guthrie, two champions of the club, they were not playing — but said it was part of the job.
“It’s the worst part of coaching, there’s no doubt about that,” Scott said.
“It feels strange to me, and I’m still not used to it, that if your season goes really, really well, and you’re right in it towards the end, it’s never going to be perfect, and there’s always going to be a side of it that you wish you never had to be a part of.
“So, you’ve sort of got to take the good with the bad a little bit.”
Joining Hawkins and Guthrie in the VFL earlier in the month was premiership defender Sam De Koning, who is also pressing his case for a return.
Scott says he has done enough to be considered.
“We’re still thinking through the final selection with the guys that we think are fit and available; De Koning fits into that category,” he said.
Earlier in the week, the spearhead of the Cats’ forward line, Jeremy Cameron, hailed Geelong’s remodelled attack.
Cameron has also backed defender-turned-midfielder Tom Stewart to return from hamstring tightness for Saturday evening’s preliminary final against Brisbane at the MCG.
Geelong have kicked more than 100 points in five of 10 games without Hawkins, with mobile tall Shannon Neale thriving in his absence.
The likes of mature-age recruit Shaun Mannagh and AFL Rising Star Ollie Dempsey have also been influential.
“It’s a really nice balance. We’ve got a lot of guys that can play different roles,” Cameron said on Monday.
“Scratcher (Neale) has been enormous for us. He provides a really big contest. He’s such a big fella and when he can launch at the ball, he’s hard to stop. So, he plays an important role.
“Ollie Henry’s a different sort of player. He can really leap and take it at the highest point as well, but he’s so dangerous on ground level as well, and very classy.
“We’ve got just a really good mix. There’s guys that aren’t talked about a hell of a lot, but inside, internally, they play a huge role for us.
“It’s nice to be able to mix things up if things aren’t really working for us at any given time. We’ve got the licence to change it up and have a different look at it. And I think that’s key to the big moments and big games.”
Cameron lauded Hawkins’s attitude and admitted it would be hard to see the 36-year-old miss out.
“It’d be obviously difficult. He’s been through a fair bit this season,” he said.
“He could just sail off and he’s had an amazing career, and it’s so touch and go with the timing of how his foot is healing and the timing of getting back, it’s a tight window, but he’s done everything he could possibly do.
“He’s in there, working behind the scenes, he’s in the heat room. He’s doing everything he can to give himself a chance. And that’s all you can really ask for.
“It’s very lifting to walk down to the gym and see that.
“I’m lucky. I don’t have to sit in the committee and make the big decisions, but he’s given himself every chance, and that’s all we can ask for from a great teammate.”
But Stewart appears a likely starter against Brisbane.
“He’s been training really well, Tommy. He’s got to get through training this week, but we all do. Tommy’s in the same boat,” Cameron said.
“He’s going well. Exciting to have him come back, for sure.
“We know what Tommy’s like and how big of a player he is for the club.”
– With AAP
