‘Feared this day’: Star’s brutal GF reality laid bare.. and why Hawk will be ‘reasonably worried’

Geelong suffered a colossal blow in the first quarter of Friday night’s preliminary final against Hawthorn, with star defender Tom Stewart subbed out due to a concussion in an incident that will force Hawk Mabior Chol into a nervous wait.

The five-time All-Australian was claimed in a strong Chol tackle, with his arms pinned as his head made significant contact with the MCG turf.

The diagnosis means the 32-year-old star stopper will be unavailable for the grand final, if the Cats progress. And conversely, Chol could subsequently be subject to Match Review scrutiny.

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“Very quickly, as he left the ground, it was apparent that he had a wobble in his step. Only minutes later, he was ruled out by Geelong,” Herald Sun and Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph began at quarter-time.

“This is exactly the kind of incident that we worried about with a pre-finals bye rather than a pre-grand final bye. It’s why Greg Swann, the AFL’s new football boss, is considering changing those rules.

“Mabior Chol will be looked at, given it’s a pinned-arm tackle — the AFL asks players to release at least one of those arms — so, we’re not quite sure how that plays out.

“AFL coaches have feared this day for four years since the AFL introduced that mandatory 12-day concussion protocols.”

Regarding the potential for Chol to be suspended by MRO chief Michael Christian, West Coast premiership player Will Schofield wrote on social media platform X: “Mabior Chol has an interesting week ahead if Hawthorn win. Surely that’s not weeks? Pinned and concussed says otherwise, though.”

Triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown declared Chol “absolutely should not get suspended”.

“What could he have done? You would have to be the strongest human to be able to turn and stop the momentum from going forward,” Brown told Fox Footy.

“I know which way the game’s tracking but you cannot miss a Grand Final from that action.”

Coleman Medallist Tom Hawkins added: “I think he even tries to minimise the impact when he’s pushed forward into Tom Stewart with his right arm so look, you’d be disappointed for him.

“I think he’s trying to protect the player .. These things happen in our game.”

But Ralph said Chol could be in trouble.

“I know you’re going to say this is a perfect tackle by Mabior Chol and one in which his opponent was able to get a handball off. All I’ll say to you is that Michael Christian will look at this very closely and there are a number of factors he would be very worried by,” Ralph said.

“He doesn’t like excessive force and a player in a vulnerable position when there is a pinned-arm tackle with both arms pinned … He would say that Chol did not roll his opponent, he did not minimise the impact and certainly his opponent’s head hit the ground with significant force and a concussion.

“We will have that assessment from Michael Christian tomorrow, but Hawthorn fans should be reasonably worried about that tackle given a couple of those parameters.”

Immediately after Stewart went down, AFL Legend Jason Dunstall suspected it might’ve been a wrist injury for the Geelong gun, saying: “Has he landed on his wrist, maybe? All the weight (of the tackle) going through that right wrist.”

Demons great Garry Lyon added: “This is not what the Geelong fans would like. So, Jack Henry, who’s in all sorts of trouble with a foot, (and now Stewart).”

Dunstall chimed in: “We love the physical side of it, but we don’t want players injured. We want these two (sides) going at it for four quarters.”

Amid a start to the contest which saw Hawthorn kick the opening three goals of the game, Lyon added: “This is what coaching is all about now — ‘OK, we’re on the back foot here, we’ve lost one, potentially two in our back half — and you couldn’t pick two who are more important’.”

In a consolation for the Cats, Henry returned to the field of play late in the first quarter.