Geelong veteran Tom Hawkins still waiting for scan results as career hangs by a thread

He limped into the club in a moon boot on Monday, but the 35-year-old Geelong great remains hopeful of a recovery from a shocking foot injury.

Geelong veteran Tom Hawkins isn’t thinking about the end and remains “optimistic” as he awaits the results of scans on his injured foot that could determine whether he’s played his last AFL game.

Hawkins, 35, arrived at the club on Monday morning in a moon boot after injuring his foot in Friday’s big loss to Carlton and said he wouldn’t be making any plans until he had the full information on his injury.

His captain, Patrick Dangerfield, said there was a “bit of complexity” about the injury and Hawkins, who had toe surgery before kicking 49 goals in 2023, said he was content to wait and see what was next for him.

“I’ve actually been fine. I’m always pretty optimistic about life in general. Once I find out the information, I’ll sort of put together a little bit of a plan,” Hawkins said.

“I can respect that there’s interest with age and current form, but that’s (my future) far from my mind at the moment. I’m worried about finding out the information, putting together a plan and working towards that.

“I’m pretty optimistic on what lies ahead.”

"I can't say the news is good news, but I'm not saying the news is bad either. He had to come off with a foot issue, it's mid foot."

Chris Scott on Tom Hawkins' foot injury.#AFLBluesCatspic.twitter.com/geT4l5ypU0

— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 21, 2024

Hawkins, who has kicked 796 goals in his stellar 359-game career, said he sustained the injury performing the same movement he had done countless times before.

“It’s one of the things kids picked up on actually, they’re not too worried about the foot,” he chuckled.

“But look, it was just a movement that I do every day at training and playing.

“Just put my foot under a bit of load, I don’t know. I don’t think there was necessarily much in the actual incident other than to say I do it all the time and it’s not something that’s new.

“Just maybe a twist or turn or an uneven part of the surface, I’m not sure.”

Dangerfield said there was no point forecasting what it would mean for the future of Hawkins, who has only kicked 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 said.

“We will wait for the best in that field to provide the best possible information.

“There is a fair bit to work through, obviously. Tom has had a bit of history with that foot, so that adds the complication and the challenge with understanding scans where there is a fair bit happening.

“He is in good spirits, spoke to him yesterday. But you’ve got to be conscious as a player, the last thing you actually want when you injure yourself is every single player 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.”