It’s a milestone that has been a long-time coming, but Jonathon Ceglar is finally set to play his 100th game in the brown and gold this weekend.
After an impressive performance against Collingwood, Ceglar has been named in the team to take on the Western Bulldogs in Tasmania on Saturday.
From an injury that kept him on the sidelines for nearly two years, to falling short of selection in Hawthorn’s 2014 premiership team, it’s been quite the journey to 100 games for the ruckman who made his debut with the Hawks back in 2013.
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Ceglar became a senior team regular in the 2014 season and played 15 games, including the qualifying and preliminary finals, but was unluckily replaced by Ben McEvoy in Hawthorn's grand final-winning side.
He was forced to undergo a knee reconstruction after injuring it during his 50th game late in 2016, which kept him out of action until the 2018 season.
Upon his return, he then started sharing the ruck duties with McEvoy until he was injured, which then saw Ceglar become the primary ruckman for the remainder of the season.
Season 2020 saw him again entrusted with the primary ruck duties, where season 2021 has seen some ups and downs with just 10 appearances at senior level.
Ceglar has averaged 14.4 disposals a game in 2021 – above his career average 11.5 – and produced a season-best performance in Round 13 against Sydney finishing with 35 hitouts, 20 disposals and a goal.
Having missed selection since Round 17, Ceglar made a resilient return last week in the Hawks' Round 21 win against Collingwood and impressed with 21 hitouts, 20 disposals and six marks.
