Jimmy Bartel ignored as Geelong make final call on Tom Hawkins for AFL preliminary final

Geelong coach Chris Scott has revealed Tom Hawkins and Cameron Guthrie won't play in the Cats' preliminary final against Brisbane, with both unable to overcome injury concerns. The Geelong veterans both played in the VFL semi-final last weekend, and had been hopeful of being selected to take on the Lions on Saturday night.

But Scott put the speculation to bed on Wednesday night, revealing they won't play. “We don’t think that Hawkins and Guthrie are fit and available this week,” he said on Channel 7 program 'Talking Footy'. "They’ve done a remarkable job, really, from where they came from to get themselves in the position where we had to think about it a lot.

“But we’ve just made the call to this point that they’re not going to be quite ready. But that certainly doesn’t preclude them from being available next week, so that’s exciting for us, if we’re good enough. It was a close call, but not close enough that we weren’t confident to make the call by now.”

Scott said it was the worst part of his job to have to tell players they're not picked. “It’s the worst part of coaching, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“It feels strange to me, and I’m still not used to it, that if your season goes really, really well, and you’re right in it towards the end, it’s never going to be perfect, and there’s always going to be a side of it that you wish you never had to be a part of. So, you’ve sort of got to take the good with the bad a little bit.”

Crucially, Scott said Tom De Koning is right in the frame for selection. “We’re still thinking through the final selection with the guys that we think are fit and available, De Koning fits into that category,” he said.

RELATED:

• Christian Petracca cops backlash over Melbourne awards night move

• Trent Cotchin makes staggering claim about Dustin Martin backflip

Jimmy Bartel's call to pick Tom Hawkins ignored

The decision not to play Hawkins goes against calls from club great Jimmy Bartel. "I'd back in Tom Hawkins," Bartel said on Tuesday. "He's got the experience in big finals. He's a big brute of an individual, he'll draw a good defender from the line. I'd take Tom Hawkins, if I had to pick."

Hawkins might be able to make a fairytale farewell to the AFL if the Cats make the grand final. But if they lose to Brisbane, it would be a brutal way to finish for the retiring 36-year-old.

“It’d be obviously difficult. He’s been through a fair bit this season,” teammate Jeremy Cameron said earlier this week. “He could just sail off and he’s had an amazing career, and it’s so touch and go with the timing of how his foot is healing and the timing of getting back, it’s a tight window, but he’s done everything he could possibly do.

“He’s in there, working behind the scenes, he’s in the heat room. He’s doing everything he can to give himself a chance. And that’s all you can really ask for. It’s very lifting to walk down to the gym and see that. I’m lucky. I don’t have to sit in the committee and make the big decisions, but he’s given himself every chance, and that’s all we can ask for from a great teammate.”