'Never got caught': Hawthorn heroes lift the lid on decade-long deceit

Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis have lifted the lid on a cheeky decades-long trick they used to beat the infamous ‘skin-fold test’ at Hawthorn.

Roughead and Lewis spent 11 years together at the Hawks after they both made their debuts in 2005.

The dynamic duo helped Hawthorn win four flags during that time before Lewis departed for the Demons in 2017.

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Both players are retired now, which might explain why they felt the time was right to reveal how they fudged the numbers for years when being tested by Hawthorn officials.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s The Golden Years podcast, Roughead and Lewis admitted helping each other cheat the dreaded skin-fold - a measure of the percentage of players’ body fat.

“Roughy and I had a great relationship when it came to skin-folds,” Lewis said.

“There was always a process that would happen. You’d get in a room and there would be five or six guys.

“It was too loud so the dietitian would say ‘two or three people maximum in the room.’ Roughy and I would go in together, especially after the off-season break.

“He would have an idea where I sat with my skin-folds and I would have an idea where he sat. And we’d scribe for each other.

“The process was the dietitian would be there measuring your skin-folds and I would be there scribing.

“So when she said ’13.5 on the stomach’ … (I’d write down) nine. We did that for the best part of 10 years. We never got caught!”

Roughead said he recruited other Hawthorn players to help him out after Lewis was traded to Melbourne.

“We put our system through enough players so they knew exactly what was going on,” Roughead said.

“Nobody ever knew until now.”

AFL chief targets October grand final

Meanwhile, the AFL have set a target of October 31 to complete the 2020 premiership season, with league boss Gillon McLachlan increasingly confident long-term hubs won't be required to achieve that goal.

McLachlan believes the pathway for stalled sporting codes laid out by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday has made a return to playing possible as early as late June.

A new pay deal struck with players allows the league to play games into December if required, but a June end to the COVID-19 shutdown could see a premier crowned in October.

“We have set that as a target,” McLachlan told Fox Footy on Saturday.

“We think we have the flexibility with venues to go longer.

“But given where we are, if you look ahead cautiously at when we might be able to get back to train, then into the season, we think finishing within an October framework is possible.

“I feel that every day that goes past I've got more confidence that we're going to have a plan to get back on the field sooner rather than later.”

with AAP