The statistical significance of Tom Hawkins’ career-best bag of eight goals surprised coach Chris Scott but the veteran forward’s powerful performance in Geelong’s win over Essendon did not.
Off-season foot surgery left a cloud over Hawkins entering 2023 and the 34-year-old, like his team as a whole, took time to build momentum early in the campaign.
But Hawkins has now tallied 19 goals during a four-match winning streak, which has put the Cats (4-3) on the positive side of the ledger for the first time this year.
Hawkins monstered Essendon defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and kicked four goals in Geelong’s devastating 38-0 opening surge on Sunday, which set up a 20.12 (132) to 16.8 (104) victory at the MCG.
“I still marvel at what he can deliver,” Scott said.
“He doesn’t look like he’s near to the end to me.
“I was surprised that he’d never kicked eight (goals) before and my takeaway from that is he’s such an unselfish player.”
Cats captain Patrick Dangerfield (26 disposals, 10 clearances, 15 inside-50s) starred and Jeremy Cameron added three goals to reclaim a share of top spot in the Coleman Medal race.
Tom Stewart (26 disposals), Gryan Miers (24) and Isaac Smith (19) also contributed as the reigning premiers flexed their considerable muscle against one of the season’s early form sides.
“The last month has got us back on the right track,” Scott said.
“We feel like we’re playing closer to our best footy and it’s not just one or two guys.
“Some of our best players – Cameron and Dangerfield spring to mind – are getting back to their best but we think it’s improvement across the board.”
The only real negative for Geelong was Jack Bowes’ calf injury, which is expected to sideline him for multiple weeks.
Gary Rohan was taken off as a precaution with a minor hamstring concern and Zach Tuohy (back spasms) failed a late fitness test.
Essendon’s Jake Stringer had 26 disposals, 20 contested possessions, 11 clearances and four goals in one of his best performances in red and black.
Sam Weideman added a career-best five majors and Darcy Parish (38 touches, nine clearances) was busy.
The Bombers kicked four of the first five goals in the second half and Stringer dragged them back within 23 points with his fourth goal but Hawkins and Cameron kicked steadiers for the ruthless Cats, who did the damage early.
“At six goals to nil the players had to dig in and they probably had enough in-built excuses if they wanted to look for them,” Bombers coach Brad Scott said.
“The thing I’m most pleased about is the foundation of our game is pretty sound.
“We got beaten up by a pretty good team at different stages today.
“But if you don’t have a team that’s got the intestinal fortitude to fight it out and get the game back on our terms, then all of your systems and structure doesn’t really matter.”
The result continued Geelong’s recent dominance over Essendon, with their five straight wins coming by an average margin of 47 points.
It also gave Chris Scott a 9-5 advantage over brother Brad Scott – now in his first year with the Bombers after almost a decade at North Melbourne – in head-to-head battles.
