As Tom Hawkins approached his record-breaking last season with Geelong, he did so knowing one misstep could be enough to force him to make an extremely difficult decision regarding a serious toe problem that has troubled him for the past two years.
The 36-year-old, who announced on Tuesday he will retire at the end of this season, was issued with an alarming option late last year when he visited the Brisbane-based specialist who had operated on his toe after the Cats’ dominant win in the 2022 grand final over Sydney.
In a self-titled autobiography to be released on Monday, Hawkins reveals that after meeting with Dr Ben Forster, a surgeon with a history of assisting elite rugby league and union athletes, he was told there were three options in regards to the toe.
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The big Cat, who set a new Geelong games record this year which now stands at 359 games, could manage it and hope it did not flare again, as it did prior to the 2022 finals series, which required painkilling injections and subsequently drastic surgery to shorten his second toe after the flag had been won.
He could undergo further surgery — as it is, Hawkins needs to wear shoes as much as possible given the sensitivity near the toe — or he could decide to have the toe amputated should it cause him too much grief during the 2024 season.
“When the problem with my second toe first flared in the latter stages of the 2022 season, there were times where the pain was so significant that part of me wished I could cut it off,” he writes in Tom Hawkins.
“But as we assessed how best to treat the injury leading into what could prove my final season, I was astonished to learn that amputation was not just an option but was a realistic one should things go awry.
“It was a tricky one. If the problem did arise in the middle of the year, it could prove an early end to my career. Something as simple as twisting it the wrong way or landing awkwardly could trigger it again.
“Would I have to then chop off my toe to have a shot at a fourth premiership? That was a decision I feared having to make.”
The concern explains the angst Hawkins felt when he felt a sharp pain in his foot in a match against Carlton in late June, which resulted in him coming from the ground. But the injury which has sidelined the 2020 Coleman Medallist is a different one to the toe issue.
In an interview with the Herald Sun on Friday, the five-time All Australian said that amputation was still an option at some stage later in his life and joked that he might have to keep it in a jar next to his bed as a token of his career.
“Touch wood it continues to be healthy. But there is always the possibility that it needs to come off,” he told Herald Sun.
Hawkins is optimistic of being fit enough to be a part of Geelong’s premiership push over the next seven weeks of the season, with the prospect remaining he will return in time for the Cats’ clash against West Coast in Rd 24.
The fifth-placed Geelong travel to Perth to play Fremantle, which are sitting third, on Saturday in a clash with major ramifications for the top four.
Does a fit Hawkins play Finals for Cats? | 01:16
In Fox Footy’s The First Crack, dual-North Melbourne premiership player and leading analyst David King said Geelong coach Chris Scott faces a selection conundrum in September should the champion prove his fitness.
“Chris Scott won’t muck around with finals. If he thinks Tom Hawkins can help, he plays. If he doesn’t, he won’t. It is as simple as that,” he said.
Hawkins has kicked 13 goals this season, but his ability to bring other teammates into the play and set up goals is considered invaluable.
Courtney Walsh co-authored the Tom Hawkins autobiography, which will be released next week.
Source Agencies
