Geelong milestone man Tom Hawkins celebrated his 350th game in style on Easter Monday with a strong win over arch-rivals Hawthorn, but a mindless look at a phone has see the club hit with an official warning by the AFL.
During the game's extended three-quarter time break - due to a severe weather warning that lasted for 40 minutes - a Cats official handed Hawkins a phone and the AFL is obligated to investigate as it was a breach of its integrity rules.
โI wanted to get a look at what (weather) was coming our way. It certainly wasn't my phone,โ Hawkins told Channel 7.
The AFL addressed the matter on Tuesday afternoon, stating the staff member with Hawkins was among the Geelong officials approved to have mobile access, with Hawks shown a weather radar.
"The Geelong Cats have today formally provided an explanation on the mobile phone use by player Tom Hawkins in the change room during the lightening break at yesterday's match," a league statement read.
"The official who handed Hawkins the phone is one of the club's authorised device users (each club has 10, plus four media staff), and he was showing Hawkins the weather radar.
"Geelong reinforced to the AFL that all player and staff phones (those not Authorised Device Users), were securely locked in a case as per standard process to comply with the AFL Rules.
"While the interaction was unintentional, it serves as an important reminder to all clubs that mobile phone usage is restricted to only authorised device users during the duration of a match.
"The club has today received an official warning."
In 2021, Collingwood faced a similar situation not long after that report when players Jordan De Goey and Jeremy Howe were caught looking at their phones during a game.
Despite suffering match-ending injuries and reportedly alerting family members, the club was fined $20,000.
According to Rule 30, player phones should be locked away and are in breach of the use and possession of communications devices during a game.
However, the Hawkins incident is different to the Pies duo who opted to use their personal phones whilst the Geelong forward was handed a device from an authorised user.
As unusual as the extended break was due to the lightning, Cats coach Chris Scott lauded the AFL for the way they handled the situation.
Speaking post-game, Scott said: "Well, to their credit, the AFL communicated really well.
"We had the options in front of us really quickly... knew we'd have enough time to warm up so it was that balance between staying warm and staying ready but also staying calm and not fearing the unknown.
"As I said, I thought the communication was really good, we had a pretty clear line of sight on what was going to happen."
The last time an unexpected break in play occurred was between Brisbane and Melbourne at the Gabba in Round 3 last year.
