Hawthorn midfielder Tom Scully weighing up AFL career due to personal circumstances
Hawthorn ball-winner Tom Scully has taken time away from the club to consider his football future – and the reason why has been revealed.
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Hawthorn wingman Tom Scully is seriously weighing up his football future and may have played his final AFL game.
The 29-year-old former Giant and Demon – the No.1 draft pick in 2009 – has missed the past fortnight of training and has requested to take time away from the club.
The Herald Sun understands Scully is dealing with personal circumstances, including in his marriage with wife Zoe.
“Tom has requested time off from his football commitments due to personal circumstances,” a Hawthorn spokesperson said.
“Hawthorn is fully supportive of Tom’s request and remains in regular communication with Tom to provide him with any support required.
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“The club asks that Tom’s privacy is respected at this time and will provide a further update when available.”
It’s been a dramatic off-season for the Hawks, who are still investigating claims of alleged lewd social media behaviour from another No.1 selection and ex-Giant Jon Patton.
Greater Western Sydney was smashed at the time for offloading the pair so cheaply in consecutive years, but Leon Cameron’s men could emerge the winners, given they were able to shed significant salary.
Hawthorn’s veteran football and list boss Graham Wright has also defected to his old club Collingwood, where he replaces Geoff Walsh.
Scully – once regarded as the AFL’s best two-way runner – hasn’t recaptured his best form since suffering a gruesome right ankle injury while still playing for the Giants in the early stages of the 2018 season.
His leg crumbled underneath him in a Callum Brown tackle in the Round 2 clash with Collingwood, and the result was a fractured fibula in that ankle and a syndesmosis injury.
Scully was expected to miss about 12 weeks post-surgery, but he had a setback and didn’t play another match that year.
The bone healed well, but the syndesmosis issue and related bone bruising lingered.
The 187-gamer eventually requested a trade home to Victoria despite still having three seasons left on his contract.
The Hawks parted with only a fourth-round selection for Scully, who signed a three-year deal to head to Waverley Park.
He made what seemed a miracle recovery to break into Hawthorn’s senior side by Round 2 in 2019 and won a combined 50 disposals in his second and third matches for the club.
However, Scully’s form has been patchy ever since and he averaged a career-worst 13.6 disposals last season, even factoring in the shorter quarters.
Four-time Hawks premiership coach Alastair Clarkson conceded on the eve of the 2020 season that Scully would “never train like he used to”.
He’s rarely been out of the headlines since being the dux of the 2009 draft class, showing promise at the Demons before becoming one of GWS’s first marquee signings on a $6 million, six-year deal.
Scully’s best seasons were in 2016 and 2017, when he was nominated for the All-Australian squad in back-to-back years.
The Hawks already lost star winger Isaac Smith to Geelong as a free agent and Ricky Henderson retired, but they traded for Tom Phillips and have emerging duo Finn Maginness and Connor Downie.
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