Tom Hawkins, a Geelong veteran, isn’t thinking about retirement and remains “optimistic” as he awaits the results of scans on his damaged foot, which might determine if he’s played his final AFL game.
Hawkins, 35, came at the club on Monday morning wearing a moon boot after damaging his foot in Friday’s huge loss to Carlton, and indicated he wouldn’t make any preparations until he knew the full extent of his injury.
His captain, Patrick Dangerfield, said the ailment was “complex,” and Hawkins, who had toe surgery before hitting 49 goals in 2023, said he was prepared to wait and watch what happened next.
“I have genuinely been fine. I’m usually hopeful about life in general. Hawkins remarked, “Once I have the information, I’ll put together a little bit of a plan.”
“I understand that there is curiosity in age and current form, but (my future) is distant from my mind right now.
I’m concerned about gathering the necessary information, devising a strategy, and implementing it.
“I’m pretty optimistic on what lies ahead.”
Hawkins, who has 796 goals in his spectacular 359-game career, stated that he received the injury while performing the same technique he had done numerous times before.
“It’s one of the things kids picked up on actually, they’re not too worried about the foot,” he replied with a laugh. “But look, that was just a movement I do every day when training and playing.
“I don’t know, I just put my foot under a little load. I don’t think there was much to the incident other than the fact that I do it all the time and it isn’t something new. “Just maybe a twist or turn or an uneven part of the surface, I’m not sure.”
Dangerfield said it was pointless to predict what it meant for Hawkins’ future, who had only 15 goals in 12 games this season.
“I am not going to speculate on what it means longer term or what it means in the short term,” Dangerfield told reporters.
“We shall wait for the best in their field to deliver the most accurate facts.
“There’s a lot to get through, clearly. Tom has a history with that foot, which adds to the complexity and effort of reading scans with a lot going on.
“He is in good spirits; I spoke to him yesterday. But you have to be careful as a player; the last thing you want when you injure yourself is every single person asking you, ‘how are ya, how are ya, how are ya’.
“It is a fine balance there to provide the support as we do for all of our players and we just have to be patient on where it is all sitting.”
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