After leading by 17 points at three-quarter-time after a game of fluctuating fortunes, the Hawks failed to score in the last term as the Cats took their unbeaten run this season to 11 with a five-point win.
Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson confirmed the extent of Roughead's injury after the game last night, saying it was extremely disappointing to lose a third player to a season-ending injury this year.
But he refused to blame Roughead's injury midway through the last quarter for the Hawks' inability to penetrate the Cats' stellar defence in the last term. The Cats added three goals in the last half-hour, all of them before Roughead went down clutching his achilles at the 13-minute-mark.
The Hawks also lost Clinton Young to hamstring soreness before halftime when he was substituted out of the game.
"He (Roughead) has hurt his achilles pretty bad. He is certainly spend a fair amount of time on the sidelines," Clarkson said. "If it is ruptured as we suspect it is, he will miss the rest of the season.
"It's a disappointing injury for us ... he has been in such good form, but we have to move on quickly and find a replacement and keep going.
"We can't sit around and sook for long."
Clarkson said the loss of Roughead, on top of season-ending injuries to key defenders Ben Stratton and Stephen Gilham, would make it hard for the Hawks, but he cited Port Adelaide's experience of 2004 as an example of what can happen with new players coming into the group.
"Teams have won flags like before. I can remember being at Port Adelaide at the start of 2004 and Matty Primus and Josh Francou were hurt early in the season," he said. "Two guys stepped into their roles and they played in their flag. It certainly will test us, but we are not going to give up."
Clarkson said he blamed poor ball use, and Geelong's rock-solid defence, for the loss, and not a potential free-kick that could possibly have gone Lance Franklin's way in the dying moments of the game.
"I don't think it is worth going down that track," he said.
"We ran out of legs and ran out of a couple of soldiers in the end.
"We are around the mark. We wanted to use tonight to see if we had made some improvement since Round 5. I think we have, but we just need a bit more polish with the way we use the footy."
Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge said he did not consider it a mental hurdle that the club had not beaten the Cats since the 2008 Grand Final.
"They have beaten a lot of teams six times in a row," Hodge said. "I wouldn't put it down to a mental thing.
"They have been a good side for the last five or six years. They just find a way to win."
Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson confirmed the extent of Roughead's injury after the game last night, saying it was extremely disappointing to lose a third player to a season-ending injury this year.
But he refused to blame Roughead's injury midway through the last quarter for the Hawks' inability to penetrate the Cats' stellar defence in the last term. The Cats added three goals in the last half-hour, all of them before Roughead went down clutching his achilles at the 13-minute-mark.
The Hawks also lost Clinton Young to hamstring soreness before halftime when he was substituted out of the game.
"He (Roughead) has hurt his achilles pretty bad. He is certainly spend a fair amount of time on the sidelines," Clarkson said. "If it is ruptured as we suspect it is, he will miss the rest of the season.
"It's a disappointing injury for us ... he has been in such good form, but we have to move on quickly and find a replacement and keep going.
"We can't sit around and sook for long."
Clarkson said the loss of Roughead, on top of season-ending injuries to key defenders Ben Stratton and Stephen Gilham, would make it hard for the Hawks, but he cited Port Adelaide's experience of 2004 as an example of what can happen with new players coming into the group.
"Teams have won flags like before. I can remember being at Port Adelaide at the start of 2004 and Matty Primus and Josh Francou were hurt early in the season," he said. "Two guys stepped into their roles and they played in their flag. It certainly will test us, but we are not going to give up."
Clarkson said he blamed poor ball use, and Geelong's rock-solid defence, for the loss, and not a potential free-kick that could possibly have gone Lance Franklin's way in the dying moments of the game.
"I don't think it is worth going down that track," he said.
"We ran out of legs and ran out of a couple of soldiers in the end.
"We are around the mark. We wanted to use tonight to see if we had made some improvement since Round 5. I think we have, but we just need a bit more polish with the way we use the footy."
Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge said he did not consider it a mental hurdle that the club had not beaten the Cats since the 2008 Grand Final.
"They have beaten a lot of teams six times in a row," Hodge said. "I wouldn't put it down to a mental thing.
"They have been a good side for the last five or six years. They just find a way to win."
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