Tom Hawkins knows all about goalkicking and he has had his say on how Carlton’s Harry McKay’s funk will be solved.
McKay’s technique and temperament has been picked apart in recent weeks after a string of terrible misses as Carlton has lost its last four games.
The 2021 Coleman medallist has kicked 14 goals from 41 shots this year, with 13 of his attempts not scoring at all.
Harry McKay has battled in front of the sticks. Picture: Mark Kolbe/AFL Photos/ via Getty Images
In terms of scoring shots, he has kicked 2.7 in the last three weeks as his side has slipped out of the top eight.
McKay’s has kicked 188 goals from 326 scoring shots in his career, putting him at 57.7 per cent.
That is well down on modern greats in Geelong star Hawkins (64.1 per cent) and Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt (62.5), and behind the gold standard of champions Tony Lockett (69.7) and Jason Dunstall (66.1).
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Hawkins, who has generally been a good kick at goal and has gotten better as he has aged, had his own struggles in front of the sticks and famously missed a series of simple shots at goal in his breakout performance in the 2011 grand final.
He said McKay was “not kicking at the level he wants to be or can kick it” but Hawkins backed the Blue to sort himself out.
“I will go through ebbs and flows this year and standing next to Jeremy Cameron, one of the great exponents of goalkicking as such a pure kick, he is going to find challenges through the year,” Hawkins said.
Tom Hawkins is a master goalkicker. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
“I have always thought of goalkicking and the art of goalkicking as trying to be as consistent as you possibly can. Nobody has ever mastered it in the game of football.
“I love watching Harry McKay, he is one of my favourite players to watch, his brute strength and height just troubles defenders.
“He will be fine, he will continue to do work because there is no doubt in my mind he will work on it and he will find what works and it will be a thing of the past in 10 years time.”
Latest on Esava Ratugolea’s hamstring strain
Defender Esava Ratugolea is the latest Cat to succumb to the club’s hamstring epidemic but Geelong should see Jack Bowes and Gary Rohan taken off its injury list this week.
And skipper Patrick Dangerfield “continues to tick all the boxes” as he, too, eyes a return against the Western Bulldogs this week.
Ratugolea was subbed out of Saturday’s loss to the GWS Giants in the third term after Giants star Toby Greene appeared to collect his left hamstring with his lower leg in a marking contest.
Esava Ratugolea will miss this week. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
The reborn defender has a minor hamstring strain and will join the likes of Dangerfield, Rohan and Mitch Duncan with the same injury.
Ratugolea will miss Saturday’s match against the Dogs but with Geelong enjoying the mid-season bye the weekend after, will hope not too miss too much footy.
“(It is) really disappointing for Esava, he has put together a great body of work and is playing some great football,” Geelong footy boss Simon Lloyd said.
“We expect him to start to run over the coming week or so and he will progress pretty quickly.”
Lloyd said Rohan and Bowes (calf) were both “in full training and we expect them to be available” to face the Dogs.
Dangerfield has himself targeted a return this weekend and has been hitting the marks required to push for selection.
Patrick Dangerfield in full swing. Picture: Brad Fleet
“He is running the high-speed metres requires and hitting those speeds so that will be a discussion between the medical and conditioning team, the coaching group and Pat later in the week but he is getting very close to being available,” Lloyd said.
Speedster Max Holmes was active as Geelong held training at AWA Alliance Bank Stadium in Belmont on Tuesday, with the midfielder involved in handball drills on basketball courts just a week after he had knee surgery.
He is in the frame to play in round 14 against Port Adelaide.
“Max ran today and we expect him to be in full training next week to he will move pretty quickly,” Lloyd said on Tuesday.
Duncan will miss the Bulldogs game and is likely to return against the Power.
Cam Guthrie (toe) joined in the handball drills on Tuesday but is currently limited to running on an anti-gravity machine as he works his way back to the field.
Ruck Rhys Stanley was another injured Cat to join in the session as he recovers from an eye socket fracture.
Hawkins yet to consider retirement
Champion Cat Tom Hawkins can’t “see why there is a reason” he would retire after this season even as he pushes a decision on his future until later in the year.
The 338-game, 762-goal superstar has generally made a call on whether he would continue around the middle of each recent season as he maintains his excellent form while he closes in on his 35th birthday.
Tom Hawkins is enjoying footy. Picture: Brad Fleet
Even despite complicated off-season foot surgery, Hawkins has played in all 11 of Geelong’s games this season and doesn’t appear ready for a rest any time soon as he galloped around a basketball court on Tuesday as the Cats mixed up their training.
The forward is out of contract at the end of this year and said he hadn’t locked in whether he would return but was still enjoying the game.
“I think (thoughts about my future) will evolve later in the year and at this stage for me, my priority has been on my body and trying to get physically as best prepared (as I can),” he said.
“I am forever tinkering with little ways to improve but I think that is certainly going to be a conversation for more the back-end of the year. I need to see how I am feeling mentally and physically and whether the club is willing to go forward with me but that is a discussion we will have later in the year.
“I am really enjoying the game, it has evolved and changed so much and I am trying to adapt with it.
“I don’t see why there is a reason that I would step away but 4-5 months is a long time in footy.”
The goalkicker in full flight. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images
Hawkins is staring down the barrel of his first ever four-game losing streak within one season this weekend when his Cats face the Western Bulldogs.
He said the Cats have “put some things in place” to turn their momentum around and the veteran is “still really positive about the season”.
“We have a great challenge this weekend with the Doggies under the lid at Marvel (Stadium) and they pose a big threat,” he said.
“Certainly from our point of view, everyone is eager. We have our minds focused on this week and trying to wrestle back a bit of momentum that we have probably lost over the last couple of weeks.”