His tackling has been a topic of conversation in the football world, but Tom Atkins is taking the plaudits in his stride.
The Geelong midfielder is averaging an AFL-best 12 tackles per game through the opening four rounds of the 2025, with tallies of 12, 11, 14 and 11.
However, the 29-year-old has put his efforts down to the nature of the contests the Cats have been involved in this year.
“Brisbane was a really wet game,” Atkins said.
“And then, you know, against the Saints, we were defending for a lot of the game.
“So, you can’t read too much into those things. I’m just playing football.
And, yeah, I’m a defensive midfielder, so those things are going to happen.”
While Atkins doesn’t consciously go into each match with a tackling figure in mind, a similar figure will be required if Geelong is to upset Adelaide to open Gather Round on Thursday night.
The Crows enter the clash off a one-point loss to the the Suns on the Gold Coast that ended their unbeaten start to the season.
“Always at Adelaide Oval, you can expect the crowd to be up and about,” Atkins said.
“So we need to try and generate our own momentum within the team and, you know, try and perform well.
“But, yeah, it’s exciting. We’re the marquee game, I guess. We’re the opener. So looking forward to hopefully winning.”
However, Atkins knows Geelong must produce a four-quarter effort to beat Adelaide.
It is an area the Cats have struggled with through the opening month of the season.
“I don’t think any of these games, really, we’ve reached our peak,” he said.
“So we just need to keep having that mindset, I think, that we don’t get too happy with ourselves.
“And we just keep trying to work on things that we haven’t been doing too well of late.”
Atkins is one of several veteran Cats out of contract at the end of 2025.
However, he has played a straight bat to discussions about his future.
“It’s not really up to me,” Atkins said.
“Obviously, I love Geelong. I love the club. You know, I’d love to stay here.
“But, yeah, we’ll just see what happens.”
X: @krockfootball
