‘I’m well aware that I’m not in great touch’: Hawkins’ form in focus ahead of games record

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‘I’m good alert that I’m not successful large touch’: Hawkins’ signifier successful absorption up of games record

Geelong guardant Tom Hawkins is not hiding distant from his signifier struggles arsenic helium prepares to adjacent Joel Selwood’s grounds of astir games successful Geelong colours erstwhile helium plays his 355th lucifer for the Cats connected Friday night.

The 35-year-old has go stuck successful the ‘nervous 790s’ aft going goalless for the past 4 matches, the longest goalless agelong of his career.

Tom Hawkins volition adjacent the Geelong nine grounds connected Friday nighttime successful crippled 355.

However, the seasoned guardant who is arsenic celebrated for sharing goals arsenic the 790 helium has kicked, said helium is not overthinking his extremity drought and remains assured of emerging from the slump.

“I’m good alert that I’m not successful large interaction astatine the moment,” Hawkins said connected Tuesday astatine GMHBA Stadium.

He said the ways helium contributed to the team’s show went beyond his extremity tally, but helium acknowledged it was a information of beingness that cardinal forwards were judged connected that measure.

“I’m a cardinal guardant who has had a wont of kicking goals implicit the past 10 years. I deliberation everlastingly and a day, you’ll look astatine cardinal presumption players and effort to justice their crippled connected goals, which is simply a large portion of what I do,” Hawkins said.

The guardant kicked 9 goals successful his archetypal 3 matches of the play but has not kicked a large since. The barren spot was highlighted erstwhile the Cats dropped their archetypal crippled for the play against Melbourne connected Saturday night, with Hawkins’ signifier a talking constituent for the archetypal clip for respective seasons.

Tom Hawkins and large mate Joel Selwood with the 2022 premiership cup.

Hawkins has averaged 2.42 goals per crippled since helium turned 30 connected the time successful 2018 when Geelong bushed the Demons with a Zach Tuohy footwear aft the siren. He had averaged 2.11 earlier past successful a vocation that has truthful acold seen him portion of 3 premierships, and triumph a champion and fairest and a Coleman Medal.

He said helium was capable to power connected and disconnected from the crippled easy truthful was not troubled by his form. He said his longevity successful the crippled besides meant specified lapses were thing new, and that helium would ne'er spell searching for a extremity conscionable to enactment the statistic to sleep.

Tom Hawkins (second from left) connected Tuesday astatine GMHBA stadium with chap Cats icons Jimmy Bartel, Joel Selwood, and Ian Nankervis.

“I’ve never, ne'er played shot similar that … for maine it’s astir however I tin power the crippled and assistance my teammate,” Hawkins said.

His dual-premiership teammate Harry Taylor said the quality for Hawkins to accommodate arsenic the guardant enactment continually changed astir him was thing helium admired.

Taylor said during his clip astatine the Cats, the backline and midfield were comparatively unchangeable but, isolated from Hawkins, the guardant enactment kept changing. He said Hawkins had besides managed to harvester a lukewarm property that made him “considerate with a ruthless competitory edge”.

Other 300-game Cats on-hand connected Tuesday were Selwood, Jimmy Bartel and Ian Nankervis, with Corey Enright and Sam Newman, who were some invited, incapable to be owed to different commitments. Along with Hawkins’ begetter Jack and maternal gramps Fred Le Deux, the household volition person played 555 games combined for Geelong by the weekend.

Having not received a escaped footwear for his past 10 matches, Hawkins has different idiosyncratic best, on with his extremity drought, to not observe arsenic helium matches his large person and three-time premiership teammate connected 355 matches.

He knows things volition alteration and is not yet contemplating his shot mortality.

“Life is acold excessively engaged for maine to interest excessively overmuch astir that,” Hawkins said.

“For me, it’s conscionable astir however I get backmost to being capable to assistance the squad arsenic rapidly arsenic I can. I don’t overthink that portion of my crippled … I’ve got a large equilibrium to beryllium capable to absorption connected what is shot and past erstwhile I region myself from this place, I go a begetter and a part-time husbandman and a golfing enthusiast.”

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