Tom Hawkins’ foolery and suspension set to cost Cats, deny Patrick Dangerfield his premiership dream
A ‘selfish’ behind-the-play hit from teammate Tom Hawkins threatens to once again derail Brownlow Medallist Patrick Dangerfield’s dreams of becoming a premiership winner, writes Kane Cornes. Plus this week’s winners and losers.
Kane Cornes
Don't miss out on the headlines from Kane Cornes. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- AFL Daily: All the latest preliminary final news
- Prizes, discounts, freebies: Check out the latest subscriber rewards
One man can rarely carry a team on his shoulders to an AFL premiership. But one can drag down every dream his club, team and its fans have for glory.
Anyone in Geelong midfielder Patrick Dangerfield’s shoes this week would surely find it extremely difficult to look at teammate Tom Hawkins in the eyes.
Hawkins’ suspension for his off-the-ball strike of West Coast opponent Will Schofield in last Friday’s semi-final at the MCG forces the Cats into a major restructure of it forward line for Friday night’s preliminary final against the well-rested Richmond.
Stream every match of the 2019 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final live and on-demand on KAYO SPORTS. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >
The knock-out final will be Dangerfield’s fourth preliminary final. The previous three — at Adelaide in 2012 and with the Cats in 2016 and 2017 — all ended with defeat to keep the Brownlow Medallist from his dream of being a premiership winner.
The heartbreak will continue on Friday night. Geelong — and Dangerfield — cannot beat Richmond without All-Australian key forward, Hawkins.
Geelong’s win against last year’s premier was built on the back of Hawkins’ four goals while taking four contested marks to distort the elite, intercepting West Coast defenders.
But Hawkins’ behind-the-play hit on Schofield was selfish. It is not the first time such a lack of control and discipline has landed Hawkins before the AFL tribunal.
Hawkins has been penalised by the AFL match review system nine times in his 256-game career. Six of these charges were for striking. This record is just unacceptable for a player of Hawkins’ experience and talent.
The only positive for Hawkins was the good fortune of Schofield not suffering a serious injury. Otherwise, the consequences would have been more serious.
Hawkins only has to look at the eight-week sanction on West Coast wingman Andrew Gaff after he broke the jaw of his Fremantle tagger, Andrew Brayshaw, before last year’s finals series. The ban denied Gaff any part in West Coast’s march to the premiership.
At 29, Dangerfield is playing like a man who realises his grand final dream is slipping away.
Dangerfield was clearly his team’s best player — and best-on-ground at the MCG — in the Cats’ 10-point loss to Collingwood in week one of the finals. He refused to let his side’s slow start deny him the chance to influence the game, he collected a team high 32 disposals (17 contested), seven clearances and a last-quarter goal.
Dangerfield last week against West Coast overcame a slow start and tight checking from Eagles gun Elliot Yeo to put on a last- quarter masterclass which included four contested grabs.
Without Hawkins, Dangerfield will be asked to cover more ground on Friday night. He will need to spend more time inside 50. Geelong coach Chris Scott is bereft of forward options to cover Hawkins’ loss — and might need to concede Dangerfield from the midfield to play as a permanent forward.
But Dangerfield cannot do it alone. No matter how well he plays, he cannot, as a one-man show carry Geelong to victory against the Richmond juggernaut. He has, in-part, his suspended teammate Hawkins to blame.
Wherever Dangerfield is sent to the MCG on Friday night, he will know it might be his last chance to have a crack at making it to the biggest match of all — and to achieve the ultimate reward of an AFL premiership.
Is Dangerfield destined to join AFL greats including Robert Harvey, Nick Riewoldt, Gary Ablett senior, Tony Lockett and Nathan Buckley to never win an AFL premiership?
WINNERS
Cameron’s Crows?
THE No. 1 target to replace Don Pyke at Adelaide should be GWS coach Leon Cameron. Cameron is the only AFL coach to have won at least one final in the past four seasons and despite a raft of injuries has qualified for his third preliminary final in four years. A five-year four-million dollar contract offer would be highly enticing for a man with only one season left to run on his current deal.
Radio genius
THE Triple M Saturday Rub featuring Danny Frawley, James Brayshaw, Damian Barrett and Garry Lyon revolutionised AFL radio coverage. We were reminded of their genius last Saturday with a two hour tribute to Frawley aired on SEN and Triple M.
Credit where due
FOR the past two seasons I’ve been highly critical of Adelaide for not being transparent to its fans. However, since the end of this season the media access and information the club has provided to the supporters has been outstanding.
Sam’s second chance
COLLINGWOOD’S Sam Murray reportedly won’t be offered a contract extension when his 18-month ban is lifted. Adelaide could be rewarded for giving Murray, 22, a second chance as he would add much-needed dash to a typically dour defence.
Angry Giants
PRIOR to GWS Giants’ victory over the Western Bulldogs in the elimination final, coach Leon Cameron created a montage of commentators criticising his side and played it on repeat to motivate his players. It got the desired response, his side producing the most brutal performance from any team in 2019, and they continued that against the Lions.
LOSERS
Witch hunt
I’M stunned as to how Toby Greene was suspended for his latest indiscretion against Lachie Neale. Yes, it was silly to put himself as risk again but you can’t get suspended for just being stupid. It wasn’t a reportable offence and if it was any other player in the game the action would have gone unnoticed. It’s been nothing short of a witch-hunt.
Lion losers
BRISBANE Lions earned two home finals finishing second on the ladder. They blew both by losing to Richmond and GWS and instead of preparing for a preliminary final this week they were dressed up like children on Mad Monday. There are no guarantees this side will have the same opportunity next year.
Skis down
PORT Adelaide co-captain Ollie Wines had admitted he will make significant changes to his summer water skiing activities to ensure he doesn’t jeopardise another AFL season. At the time of his water skiing injury in January, which ruled Wines out for 11 weeks, I was critical of his actions. My opinion drew significant backlash from the Wines family and the AFL Players Association. That backlash is interesting now that Wines himself has essentially admitted the mistake won’t happen again.
Birdman left out
THE omission of Adelaide football boss Brett Burton from the four-man panel elected to select the Crows new coach suggests he could be a big loser when the findings of the external review are handed down.
Succession plans
THIS week Essendon announced Ben Rutten will replace coach John Worsfold in 2021. While the succession plan is sound in theory and alleviates some of the media pressure on Worsfold, I’m unconvinced it will work. How did it go for Buckley and Malthouse at the Pies?