GEELONG forward Tom Hawkins has struggled in his first two games of the 2023 AFL season.<\/p>\n
Coming off the high of a 2022 season where he won a premiership, kicked 67 goals and was named All-Australian captain, Hawkins endured an interrupted pre-season where he underwent surgery on a foot issue.<\/p>\n
Having kicked just three goals and taken just three marks from Geelong\u2019s opening losses to both Collingwood and Carlton, Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton believes Hawkins\u2019 lack of fitness is beginning to cost him as he struggles to time his leads inside 50.<\/p>\n
\u201cTom Hawkins just looks like a man who hasn\u2019t had a pre-season and who has played very little football,\u201d Brereton said on AFL Nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s never going to be a problem at the boundary line throw-in at the forward 50 and he\u2019s never going to be a problem going for a marking contest when the ball drops steeply.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when the ball comes in flat, that\u2019s when you\u2019ve got to get your timing right or on a lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis timing to see the flow of the ball quickly coming towards him is all out at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Hawkins has been clearly hampered in the last fortnight, often seen hobbling around the ground, SEN\u2019s David King asked Kane Cornes whether he\u2019d rest the superstar so he can have a mini pre-season and regain his fitness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you were Chris Scott today, you saw how he moved and he had a limited preparation,\u201d King said on SEN Breakfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe drop into this phase now where it\u2019s play, recover, play, recover \u2013 it\u2019s really hard to gain fitness in this phase.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you take him out of football for the next few weeks and do a mini pre-season with him to get him up and going?<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is their fixture \u2013 they\u2019ve got the Suns, Hawthorn and West Coast the next three weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Cornes said Hawkins must get fit to regain his best form, he feels he may be able to do that by continually playing.<\/p>\n
Despite backing the big forward in to play across the next few weeks, he does expect the veteran to be managed across the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d keep playing him, he\u2019s got the 10 days this week,\u201d Cornes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you can get fit by playing, I\u2019d keep him in there for the next two or three and see how it goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at some point, they will manage this group like they have in the past with [Patrick] Dangerfield, [Joel] Selwood and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more the corkie in the calf, he got that in the first quarter last week, which is the last thing you need as a 34-year-old when you hadn\u2019t done a pre-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more that, he\u2019s going to have time to recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you\u2019re saying makes sense, I just trust Geelong to do it better than anyone else \u2026 they\u2019ve got a history of managing their squad better than anyone in the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawkins and the Cats will hope to bounce back when they face the Suns this Sunday at Heritage Bank Stadium.<\/p>\n