Geelong have brought good news to what will be a nervous week for Cats fans, with star forward Tom Hawkins effectively signing a new two-year deal with the club ahead of their vital qualifying final against Port Adelaide on Thursday night.
According to The Herald Sun, Hawkins' manager and the club are understood to have come to an agreement on a new contract.
The Coleman Medallist's five-year contract worth close to $800,000 per-season expires at the end of this season, with Hawkins set to take on a pay cut for the next two seasons at Kardinia Park.
The 32-year-old will look to continue his red-hot form of 2020 into Geelong's finals campaign as the club travel to Adelaide Oval to play minor premiers Port Adelaide.
While the clash will gauge all the focus from the playing group, the club's list managers are believed to be busy poaching Adelaide midfielder Brad Crouch.
Crouch was involved in a drug scandal after allegedly being caught with a banned substance with teammate Tyson Stengle in the early hours of the week.
The Cats had already shown strong interest in the 26-year-old prior to the controversy, but are believed to be showing just as much interest as ever.
League-wide, list managers and player agents believes the scandal won't hinder Crouch's value as they look to bolster their squads for 2021.
Geelong hold a policy that any contract longer than three seasons or above a certain salary must be approved by the board, meaning the club will have to go through the due diligence to land Crouch.
