Key step to decide Thompson’s rehab
eridge said would go a long way to establishing whether his side was a premiership contender.
Beveridge has 41 fit players to choose from, a rarity for any team in 2020, but said there was no point having a healthy list and not playing finals.
“They (Geelong) probably played the best game that anyone has played all year against the Saints a number of weeks back,” he said. “Until we establish a strong consistency in our own performance we won’t consider ourselves as being contenders. But beating a team like Geelong definitely gives you that internal, extra belief.”
Beveridge highlighted Coleman medal leader Tom Hawkins as a man they had to stop but said they had a “template” to do just that.
“We feel the way we managed the threat of Tom Hawkins last time was a good template for us,” he said.
“The Cats are playing well and, isolated, there doesn’t seem to be any better bear in the square at the moment than Tom Hawkins.”
FOUNDATION Suns defender Rory Thompson will have keyhole surgery in the coming week to determine whether he will need a major operation on his knee.
Thompson, pictured, will go to Brisbane for the minor surgery before the key defender and Gold Coast’s football department decide whether to try to rehabilitate the partial tear of his ACL or opt for large scale surgery.
“We are just going to go and have a look because it is a weird one,” Suns coach Stuart Dew said. “They will do keyhole surgery to get some eyes on it and make a decision based around what they see.
“We are working through that this week so we will know in the next couple of days. I’m assuming it will be done in the next week or so. There are a few ways you can go with it. You can do a major operation on it or you can rehab it. “Speaking to some people who have had the injury, some say you don’t need an operation and other guys believe it’s a ticking time bomb.”
Thompson looked to be on the cusp of returning to the AFL after nearly two seasons out with injury but suffered a partial tear to his ACL in his knee during his second game back on August 15.
It’s the opposite knee to the one he first hurt in 2019 when he ruptured the ACL in his right knee three weeks before the start of the 2019 season.
DUAL premiership coach Denis Pagan has revealed North Melbourne great Wayne Carey has reached out to Dean Laidley with the touching message: “We still love you, Dean.”
A group of North Melbourne past players that includes some of the biggest stars of the game continues to work behind the scenes to help 1996 premiership defender Laidley with his recovery.
The 53-year-old former North Melbourne coach was bailed on stalking and drugs charges and will face court on December 14.
Last month it was revealed 13 police officers had been suspended or transferred after photos of Laidley in a blonde wig and dress in a police interview were unlawfully leaked.
Pagan wrote a reference for Laidley’s court appearance.