With only one round remaining in the 2022 home-and-away season, the Coleman Medal race looks all but over, with a fresh injury to a key candidate.
Geelong's Jeremy Cameron, who sits second behind Carlton's Charlie Curnow, was revealed to have suffered a hamstring injury, ruling out the 2019 Coleman Medal winner from the round 23 clash.
Cameron has kicked 59 goals so far this year, returning to his best goal kicking ability, hitting the scoreboard at will.
However, we've seen a change in his game, where Chris Scott has allowed the 29-year-old to roam higher on the ground and even putting him through the midfield.
It comes to no surprise to the Cats, as Cameron boasts an elite aerobic ability for a key forward and looms as the most damaging player in the game.
Painful timing for the Cats, star forward Jeremy Cameron has suffered a low-grade hamstring injury. Geelong is hopeful he'll be ready for the first week of finals. pic.twitter.com/3hycseaVC8
— Triple M Footy (@triplemfooty) August 15, 2022
With the injury to the number five, Curnow all but had the medal locked up, kicking 62 goals thus far and leading Cameron by three as well as Tom Hawkins and Tom Lynch (by seven).
The Carlton forward has showcased his immense talent in 2022, displaying consistent form that has been usually prevented by ongoing injuries.
The 25-year-old's rise to stardom has been tracked by every Carlton fan and are now reaping the rewards, with the club hoping they make finals for the first time since 2013.
Curnow can take the club to September this Sunday against Collingwood, in a do-or-die clash against its arch rivals.
Can Tom Lynch or Hawkins catch Curnow?
With Curnow being the outright favourite and Cameron revealing another hamstring injury that has Geelong fans sitting in fear, Lynch seems to be the only genuine contender despite trailing by a considerable margin.
The former Sun has kicked 16 majors in the past three weeks, including an eight-goal haul against Hawthorn on the weekend.
The Tigers take on Essendon on Saturday night in what is tipped to be a one-sided affair.
Earlier in the year, Lynch was kept goalless in the win against the Bombers, kicking four behinds, which was one of two occasions that he didn't put one through the big sticks this year.
Curnow's inevitable match-up on Darcy Moore and Nathan Murphy could be one for the ages, with the former having four goals kicked on him by the Carlton powerhouse in round 11, potentially putting the medal out of reach.
Hawkins is the other possibility albeit unlikely but with Cameron out of the side, the veteran Cat becomes the primary key forward against the struggling West Coast at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
Averaging nearly three majors a game versus the Eagles across his career, the 34-year-old will need to be at his goal kicking best.
Hawkins' current record is seven goals in one game (achieved three times) but will need to do at least one better to be a chance.
Although the task looks dire, it has happened before.
Back in 2019, North Melbourne's Ben Brown was leading the Coleman Medal having kicked 64 goals for the year.
As apart of the Giants run to their first ever AFL Grand Final, Cameron kicked nine goals in the final round to steal the medal from Brown, finishing the year with 67 majors.
GWS deliberately targeted their powerhouse forward, who ironically finished the game with 14 shots at the big sticks.
In 2017, Lance Franklin won his fourth Coleman Medal despite trailing by five goals as the teams were preparing for the final game of the year.
Franklin kicked 10 majors, taking the lead from Josh Kennedy and Joe Daniher.
So can Hawkins or Lynch emulate a similar result?
Check out the Coleman Medal leaderboard.
