Geelong coach Chris Scott confirmed that Tom Hawkins won't get a farewell game at GMHBA Stadium, ruling him out of the club's Round 24 clash against West Coast.
Hawkins has been on the mend since Round 15 after sustaining an atypical mid-foot and ligament injury that has derailed the back half of the season.
The champion Cat recently announced that he was going to retire at the cessation of the 2024 campaign, putting an end to a glittering 18-year career.
Although there was a glimmer of hope that Hawkins would return to Geelong's ancestral home at Kardinia Park before he hung up the boots, with Scott quickly revealing the outcome.
“He won't play the West Coast game, but what you saw with him running outside he is taking steps forward, but I have seen it every day,” Scott said.
“From the moment he got injured he has been in at the club working away, so the unfortunate answer is we don't know how it is going to play out, but we are optimistic.
“Optimistic doesn't mean we are sure it is going to happen, there is enough uncertainty there that I shouldn't even speculate.
“But when it becomes more of a pessimistic situation we'll let you know, but we are miles away from that.”
The door has been left slightly ajar for Hawkins to return in the finals but will need to be cleared by the club doctors before "crossing that bridge".
However, Scott admitted it was hard to look into what the future will hold in the first weekend of September, especially given how well the forward line is operating in the absence of the 36-year-old.
Young forward Shannon Neale has been performing at a high level in the past eight weeks while Jeremy Cameron, Tyson Stengle and Gary Rohan have gone through impressive patches.
“Cross that bridge when we come to it, so I wouldn't blame (the media) for trying to work through the hypothetical situations. Our coaching group needs to work through them as well, we are not even at the stage where we are vocalising those things at the moment,” Scott said.
“I tend to think that the decision will be a bit more black and white, not completely black and white, but I think it will be simple: either he is ready to perform well, or he is not.”
Geelong will look to press for a top-four spot as they come into the final fortnight of the 2024 home and away season.
They will need to down St Kilda at Marvel Stadium before finishing the year off against the Eagles.