Five weeks on from his last AFL game against Carlton, Tom Hawkins continues to work closer to a return as his recovery ramps up towards the end of the home and away season.
Listed as three weeks away in the GMHBA Health Update, Hawkins believes he can still play a part in the final portion of Geelong’s season.
The Cats have four games remaining, as they look to make a charge towards September action over the next month.
Hawkins joined Geelong’s podcast ‘To the Final Bell’ this week, telling Cameron Ling and Meg McDonald that the break has been a nice chance to reset.
“Certain sessions I have really enjoyed, others become a bit of a grind,” Hawkins said.
“First and foremost I would love to be out playing on the weekend, training and doing other things with the group but it has been nice to reset in a really weird way.
“I can't do anything about the injury, so you change your mental approach to football and that has given me an opportunity to get a touch fitter than what I was through the middle of the year.
“I have been able to work on some things, that low level intrinsic stuff that I had done a lot of work on and it has re-energised and refocused my approach to football.
“It is in some ways nice, eight or nine weeks is a bit too long but it has been enjoyable.”
Sitting in sixth position the race for finals is heating up in an incredibly tight season all around.
Hawkins touched on the Cats' progress in 2024 and their chances heading towards September.
“I think we are in a really good position,” Hawkins said.
“We would like to take back the middle third where we went one from six, but we showed some brilliant form early in the year.
“We are getting through the winter blues as I like to refer to it, it is a really challenging time of the year.
“We have a couple of home games to finish, we play West Coast down here in the last game of the year which is always fun.
“Our season is looking like it is in a great position, we have seen at our best that we can really compete but it is just finding consistency across the board.
“I am excited for what is ahead, there will be a lot of clubs saying the same thing but we are a genuine contender.”
Geelong takes on Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday at 4.35pm. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.
Not a member? You can still be One in Hoops and join as a Cats member as the Club forges towards 90,000 members. Secure yours today at membership.geelongcats.com.au.
