H&V Finals Week 2: Undisciplined Hawkins lets Cats teammates down

It was mixed fortunes for the competition's feline mascots in the second week of finals, with the Cats getting the job done and the Lions falling out in straight sets.

There were also mixed fortunes for the tall timber. Tom Hawkins had a night out with four goals, but will miss next week through suspension. Meanwhile, the Giants' interceptors were... well... giant in their win.

Here are this week's Heroes & Villains.

HEROES

The Giants' dynamic defensive duo: Peppered more than a crusted rack of prime spring lamb, the incredible defensive pairing of Phil Davis and Nick Haynes were sublime for the Giants during the last quarter of their side's three-point win on Saturday night.

Ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the league for intercept marks, the duo stood up under extreme pressure when their side needed them most. With momentum well and truly with the Lions in the final 15 minutes of the match, the Giants held firm to pull off one of the biggest wins in club history.

On the night, Davis racked up six marks - all intercepts. Nick Haynes also snagged six crucial grabs. In the final quarter alone, the Giants tallied eight intercept marks, and held on for the win despite losing the final quarter inside 50 count by five.

A special mention should also go to 100th gamer Zac Williams, who stood up with a couple of vital moments (including a couple of intercepts of his own) in the back 50.

Fast starting Cats: Since 2012, Geelong's first quarter record in finals had been utterly abysmal.

Chris Scott's side had literally conceded twice as many points as they had scored in first terms during September, so it was a welcome sight for Cats fans to see an attacking avalanche to start the semifinal against West Coast.

The Cats, through some intense pressure, kicked the opening three goals of the game and six of the first seven to race out to a 32-point lead. The early buffer was unfamiliar territory in a final, and although the Eagles fought back, they held on to win and book a place in the last four.

Skipper Joel Selwood wound back the clock with an inspirational performance while Mitch Duncan's replacement Cam Guthrie was just about best on ground with 33 disposals and five tackles.

If the Cats are to pull off the impossible and beat Richmond in the preliminary final, they simply must start like this again. They cannot afford to be playing catch up all night long.

Charlie Cameron: Things looked dire for both Charlie Cameron and Brisbane in the opening minutes of their semifinal clash with GWS.

Cameron, crunched in a contest by a teammate, looked to be in severe pain after his arm went in a direction an arm simply shouldn't, and there were early concerns he'd miss not only the rest of the game, but the remainder of the season.

But remarkably, after being off the ground for about eight minutes, he returned -- elbow strapped -- to rapturous applause and had an immediate impact.

In the 8 minutes Charlie Cameron was on the boundary GWS scored 4.1 (25) to 0.0 (0)

In the 26 minutes Charlie Cameron was on the ground BRIS kicked 5.2 (32) to 0.1 (1)

@brisbanelions #AFLLionsGiants #AFLFinals

— Swamp (@sirswampthing) September 14, 2019

After coming back on, he took a spectacular contested mark in the forward pocket, slotted the goal and then added another later in the match to finish with 11 touches, four marks and 2.1.

To say he inspired his team back into the contest would be an understatement, and he may even have been the catalyst for the game being the thrilling contest it was. Not a bad way to bounce back after a pair of shockers against the Tigers.

VILLAINS

Tom Hawkins: Coming into Friday night's semifinal final against West Coast, Hawkins had not kicked a goal in three weeks.

But just when it seemed like the All-Australian full forward had gone cold at the wrong time, Hawkins produced a clinical display to help the Cats to a gutsy 20-point win.

The big man kicked four goals and had seven score involvements from his 13 disposals and no Eagle defender could contain him.

While he deserves credit for his performance, he deserves a much bigger whack for his stupid off-the-ball strike to the face of Will Schofield. In the third quarter, Hawkins was seen throwing a fist at the defender, one which dropped him to the ground.

It's not the first time Hawkins has landed in hot water from a silly and misjudged strike, and it will cost him and his team - he will miss the preliminary final against Richmond after being handed a one-match ban by MRO Michael Christian.

Willie Rioli: In a moment of panic, a young man made a big mistake.

Ultimately Rioli is responsible for what goes in his body, but there clearly needs to be more done in the form of education around substance use in the AFL.

While Rioli sat out on Friday night as he began his provisional ASADA ban, the Eagles sorely missed the dynamic ball user, struggling to create scoring opportunities.

Rioli is the most effective kick going inside 50 in the AFL, with 53 percent of his kicks inside 50 resulting in a mark.

On a night where superstar forward Josh Kennedy struggled to make an impact, the question has to be asked, what could've been if the reigning premiers had their best distributor on the field...

Over-umpiring: Some of the best finals have been associated with the phrase 'the umpires put the whistle away', but the three men in charge of Saturday night's match between Brisbane and GWS at the Gabba certainly didn't get the memo.

Now, we're not saying that the umpires shouldn't pay free kicks that are plain and obvious, but there were a number of picky decisions that probably could have been let go.

In the first half alone there were 28 frees paid (54 in total), and one whistleblower in particular was all too happy to give out some cringe-worthy advice to players giving their all in September. Here's some advice for umpires: let the men play, lads. It's finals, it's intense, and it's what the fans want to see.

Bizarelly, a non-decision also made waves in the second term, when umpire Shaun Ryan told Giants defender Adam Kennedy to stop hitting Charlie Cameron's injured elbow or he would pay a free kick for the actions not being in the "spirit of the game".

The comments sent social media into a frenzy, and while rule 17.12(e) states that a free kick will be paid against a player who makes "unnecessary contact with an injured opposition player", Cameron was clearly deemed fit by the Lions' medical staff when he was sent back onto the field.