Tom ban sends a message

COACH Chris Scott says Geelong had the image of the game at heart when agreeing to a one-game ban for Tom Hawkins.

Hawkins and the Cats decided not to fight the forward’s charge of intentionally making contact with umpire Dean Margetts, coming to an agreement with the AFL’s legal counsel before the case was heard by the tribunal.

Scott said Geelong was looking at the bigger picture when it came to the incident.

“It’s a good example of a situation that’s more important than the specific incident,” he said.

“I’m comfortable that the contact wasn’t Tom’s intent.

“But once he took a step back and as a club we took a step back, it was more important to look at what that incident could suggest to players, not just across the AFL but suburban levels and lower levels as well.

“It just became bigger than Tom and that particular incident. It was about making it crystal clear that you have got to be careful with umpires and if he needed to be made an example of (to) some extent, then that was a price he and we were prepared to pay.”

Scott said the decision came at a cost, losing the key forward for tomorrow’s clash with Collingwood at the MCG.

But he said the Cats had a “responsibility as custodians of the game” to make decisions for the greater good.

“We’d love to have him available. I’d be really, really disappointed if I thought he deliberately touched an umpire, I don’t think that’s the case,” Scott said.

“If the message has been sent down to lower levels especially that that’s inappropriate, then the competition has had a win.”