It was unfortunate to hear Hawkins receive Bronx cheers after his sole mark on Friday night in the second quarter, but that is the danger when a veteran goes on slightly too long.
To be fair, there were few signs at the end of last season that this was coming for the 796-goal future Hall of Famer.
At the same time, Geelong have developing target Shannon Neale waiting for an extended run. The Cats omitted Neale (nine goals in five games) instead of Hawkins for the Carlton clash.
Hawkins’ left foot setback might make the Cats’ call for them.
Good bye-rounds form counts
The month-long batch of mid-season byes ended this past weekend, with ladder-leaders Sydney, Carlton and resurgent Brisbane and Hawthorn the only unbeaten teams in that period.
There is a query on sample size, and sides’ form line can depend on which opponents they faced and where, but some trends are developing (see below). Geelong coach Chris Scott used the strength-of-draw excuse as part of his “honest” appraisal for the Cats starting 7-0 then going 1-6 since.
Nick Watson and the upstart Hawks are causing a stir.Credit: Getty Images
The two South Australian clubs and West Coast did not record a win from rounds 12-15, while 2021 premiers Geelong were one of seven teams with just one victory in the same month.
“If I was five or 10 years more inexperienced, there’s no way I’d say it, but it’s just a reality,” Scott said.
“We’ve got to hang in, but the way Carlton played today, [and] Sydney at the SCG last week … most teams are losing those.
“That said, the mistake is, ‘Oh no, it’s fine, we just played some good teams, and now we’ll win the next nine to finish the season’ … we’ve had a patch of really good teams [that are] contenders, at the same time we’ve run into problems with one, the way we play, [and] a bit of personnel stuff. We’re trying to fix stuff on the run.”
The knock on Geelong entering the season was the kids weren’t ready to make up the deficit in the veterans’ waning performance. They made fools of critics in the first two months, but that concern is beginning to play out.
Tom Hawkins is a shell of his former self, injuries are catching up with Patrick Dangerfield and Cam Guthrie, and even Tom Stewart is not consistently impacting games.
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Output is also down for others such as Mark Blicavs, Zach Tuohy, Rhys Stanley, Tom Atkins, Gary Rohan, Mark O’Connor and Jed Bews (no games this year).
However, they would be encouraged with what Max Holmes, Ollie Dempsey, Tanner Bruhn, Jhye Clark and Oisin Mullin are doing, and Sam De Koning is well-established despite not having his best season.
Tall prospects Toby Conway, Shannon Neale and Connor O’Sullivan should all be big parts of the future, too.
Docker climbs the ranks
There is a new nomination to join the league’s best young forwards.
Fremantle’s Josh Treacy had humble beginnings as the No.7 pick in the rookie draft four years ago, but is everything a coach wants in a modern key forward, bar being a bit taller than 193 centimetres.
Josh Treacy is enjoying a breakout season for Fremantle.Credit: Getty Images
The 21-year-old is amid a breakout season, averaging career highs in disposals, marks, forward-50 marks, goals and score involvements, but the numbers don’t tell the full story.
Treacy throws himself fearlessly at aerial contests, has great hands, thrives on physicality, moves well and gets involved defensively, including burying pesky defenders in bruising tackles. He even hurt himself from one such tackle in the final term, but returned to take a telling late mark.
Treacy’s match-up with Gold Coast’s throwback defender Sam Collins on Sunday was thoroughly entertaining.
The fifth-placed Dockers are in wonderful shape in attack, only a few seasons after the cupboard seemed bare.
Jye Amiss kicked 41 goals last year and has 19 more in 2024; Luke Jackson is blossoming as a forward alongside his ruck duties; and 2018 top-20 pick Sam Sturt is starting to figure AFL life out.
Maligned Roo does it again
There should be scrutiny on star Demon Clayton Oliver’s mostly underwhelming form since his strong start to the season, but the Roo who stopped him – Will Phillips – deserves rich praise.
Phillips was subbed out at three-quarter-time last week against Collingwood despite an expert shutdown job on Nick Daicos, then watched from the bench as the brilliant Magpie put Liam Shiels to the sword in a stunning comeback win.
Will Phillips not only put the clamps on Clayton Oliver; he also laid one of his eight tackles on Jack Viney.Credit: Getty Images
“The thing that the wider football world don’t, perhaps, appreciate and understand is that the difference between playing top level, senior AFL footy, as opposed to VFL, in terms of the demands on the body and [how much you have to] run, is pretty significant,” Clarkson said mid-week of the Phillips call.
“Will, we thought at three-quarter-time, wasn’t going to be able to have the tank and the engine to keep up with Daicos for the whole last quarter, so that’s why we made the change.”
Phillips kept his spot and went to Oliver from the get-go, keeping the ball magnet to only 14 disposals – his lowest tally since round 23 last season when Hawk Finn Maginness locked him down.
The No.3 pick in the 2020 draft, who has been starved of opportunities this year after falling down the midfield pecking order, had 12 of his own, to go with eight tackles and four clearances as he finds his niche.
There was no repeat of last week’s subbing, and he had seven of his touches in the final term to help North Melbourne almost chase down a 39-point deficit against the struggling Demons. It is still difficult to see Phillips staying at Arden Street beyond this season, given the Kangaroos’ on-ball depth.
Not-so-dangerous tackle (part two)
This is becoming a problem for the AFL.
We highlighted the free kick against a bemused Josh Dunkley for a so-called dangerous tackle last week on Saint Marcus Windhager, but there was a worse call on Saturday night, with Melbourne defender Steven May a dubious beneficiary.
North’s Eddie Ford spun May around in a tackle then brought him to ground, after which the Demon put his hand to his head, as if in pain, despite his left shoulder rather than head contacting the surface. May rightly copped a fine for staging from match review officer Michael Christian.
Footballers have a role to play here. May milked the free kick, so will feel he did his job, but the rule was designed to protect the players and make the game safer, in an era when brain injuries are only belatedly being taken seriously.
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There was a payback-of-sorts for Ford a term later, with the Roo receiving a 50-metre penalty when Caleb Windsor moved on the mark after he feigned a handball.
The AFL had indicated that penalty would no longer be paid in this scenario, and did not respond to this masthead’s request for clarification on the rule.
It was an eventful night for Ford, who also flipped the bird at Jack Viney after not taking kindly to some advice following a fluffed set shot that he earned with a terrific mark over Melbourne giant Max Gawn.
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