Geelong coach Chris Scott has declared premiership veterans Tom Hawkins and Zach Tuohy will “100 per cent” play on in 2024.
After the Cats’ season formally ended with no finals look for the primary time since 2015, Scott was bullish concerning the perennial powerhouse’s prospects subsequent 12 months.
And he has assured Hawkins and Tuohy, essential members of final 12 months’s premiership, to be there.
“100 per cent confident,” Scott replied when requested about Hawkins’ future.
“Zach and Tom will both play on.”
Hawkins and Tuohy, together with seven different premiership gamers on the listing, missed Geelong’s final-round defeat to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday evening.
The Cats opted to make use of a uncommon dead-rubber to ebook a number of gamers in for surgical procedure as they try and rebound from being the fourth reigning premier within the final 15 years to overlook the finals the next 12 months.
Hawkins, 35, re-injured his hamstring towards St Kilda final week, bringing an finish to his seventeenth AFL season.
But the hulking key ahead is raring to increase his 347-game, 781-goal profession that began in 2007.
“I expect to be playing, really eager to … really keen and excited mentally to play on,” Hawkins advised the Seven Network on Saturday evening.
“Like most of my contracts, a mere formality.”
Geelong bounced again to make a preliminary ultimate 12 months after their most up-to-date season with out taking part in finals.
Even with four-time premiership hero Isaac Smith retiring, a 12 months after legendary captain Joel Selwood known as it quits, Scott believes the Cats can hit again in 2024.
“The chance to see what (ruckman) Toby Conway might be sort of overwhelmed, and rightly so, the sense of disappointment that we all know we have,” he mentioned.
“”At least for one evening, we’re in a position to push that to the facet.
“I’m not going to wake up feeling great, I’ll be honest, but it won’t be a situation, I don’t think, we’re sitting there thinking this is a desperate situation, we don’t know the way forward.
“We’re respectful of how shut the competitors is however optimistic we generally is a huge a part of it.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
