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A two-week suspension to one of Hawthorn’s greatest players, and currently their most valuable player, will be a hard hit.
In the space of 18 months, Jordan Lewis has become Hawthorn’s most integral player in their chase of a historic three-peat.
At the peak of his powers, an unassuming stalwart of one of Hawthorn’s greatest eras and no doubt a captain in another time, his importance to the Hawks’ pursuit of greatness has never been more apparent than now.
His influence on a game is subtle and cerebral as much as it is physical and no-nonsense. His no-holds barred approach to football with little concern or thought to his own well-being, other than that of his teammates has reserved Lewis a special place in the pantheon of Hawthorn greats.
While Buddy Franklin left, the core stayed and proved emphatically that they could still evolve and adapt. Hawthorn is a club that fights to the very end, without really reasoning why, so much so that is it now engrained in their DNA. If a player falls, there is always another to take his place.
As much as they are decried as excuses, injuries influence the season of any club. In 2014, Hawthorn found a raft of players stepping into the breach as Sam Mitchell, Josh Gibson and many others went down during the season.
The 29-year-old Lewis is playing at the top of his game, as evidenced in his first five contests this season, a standout being in Round 4 when he almost single-handedly willed his team to a near impossible comeback against Port Adelaide.
At the end of the 2014 season he signed a three-year deal, keeping him at the club until the end of 2017. It was inconceivable that he would have fielded offers from rival clubs, with Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast showing that players of Lewis’ ilk (think Nick Malceski) are exactly what is needed. Turning 31 in the last year of his contract, it can be safely assumed that he will remain a one club player.
In his ten years of AFL footy, Lewis has not missed more than three home-and-away games in a single season, a remarkable feat considering the manner in which he conducts himself on field.
All of this has been very suddenly put into the spotlight after his two-week suspension for a late spoil on Told Goldstein in last round’s tempestuous clash with North Melbourne.
It’s been seven years since Lewis has been suspended, a one-match ban for striking North Melbourne’s Daniel Pratt in 2008. Such a length of time without a visit to the tribunal suggests this act was out of character. It’s also the first game he’s missed since 2012.
Of all players on Hawthorn’s list, Lewis’ absence will be felt the most, even when compared with inspirational captain Luke Hodge’s three-week suspension for striking Andrew Swallow.
The Hawks do not face any heavyweights in the next fortnight (GWS and Melbourne). Nevertheless it will be intriguing to see who fills the breach for his absence and how much of a bearing it has on their performances.
Number one in the league for total kicks and total disposals, his absence as the key link player between half-back and half-forward as well as a natural leader is the biggest personnel challenge Hawthorn have faced in the last few years, bigger than the absences of Franklin, Hodge and Mitchell.
It will also be a small insight into life after Lewis at Hawthorn. Can they advance in the same way they so successfully did post-Buddy?
Players like Liam Shiels, and Taylor Duryea, perhaps even forwards for Luke Breust or Paul Puopolo will need to show that the void can be filled. One or all must stand up to show the way.
The next two games may come in the form of two precocious young teams, and perhaps more of a story may have been told had Lewis’ absence occurred against late September contenders.
With the added absence of Hodge, those that remain must look to each other, and at themselves, to ensure that Hawthorn’s lofty standards continue to thrive.
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