After announcing his retirement, Tom Hawkins is now looking less likely to return to the Geelong side in 2024. Before the big “Tommahawk” gets his send off from the Cats faithful in the final round through a lap of honour, this Mongrel thought we should take a look back at the ten performances that defined his career. The special moments, clutch final quarters and stats stuffing matches that have formed the legacy of the Geelong football club’s third greatest forward in its 150+ year history.
We’re going to go through these matches one by one and detail why they were significant. And why Cats fans hold Hawkins in such an elevated light. So, if you’re here for some criticism of the great man, you’re going to largely be disappointed.
Now, every supporter is different and there will be some matches missed or games that you think should’ve been included. Well too bad, go and do your own. You think I wrote this in 20 minutes? This game might’ve meant this, or that game may have been statistically better, but we’re talking about this mongrel’s opinion on a great man’s legacy here. It’s not just raw numbers. Games in finals are obviously rated higher (Yes, even losing ones). Matches against key rivals are also more important.
So, let’s get stuck into the matches that mattered across this giant’s career.
10. Round 12, 2020 V Port Adelaide – Hawkins Paddock
We start with a somewhat recent performance. In the most heavily Covid-19 affected season. Featuring shortened quarters and being played almost exclusively outside of Victoria, Geelong hosted Port Adelaide at Gold Coasts home ground (Then called Metricon Stadium) and absolutely pasted the Power.
This started with Tom Hawkins monstering the Powers’ undersized key defenders. The Cats team and Chris Scott clicked onto this advantage quickly as the amount of space inside the Cats forward 50 was staggering to see in the modern game of getting numbers back in defence.
You almost had to feel bad for blokes like Tom Clurey as they were isolated in almost 100 metres of space. Hawkins dominated and took a huge seven contested marks on his way to kicking six goals and giving two more away.
And Geelong was never troubled by Port Adelaide again in the 2020 season, and that is all we’re going to say about that.
9. Semi Final 2019 V West Coast – What might Have Been…
The first final on this list, and there will be a few.
Not a huge night for Hawkins in this one, but the match lends itself perfectly to the proverb that big men do not decrease in size as the game progresses. Hawkins got the Cats started with the first goal and battled manfully through most of the match. However, he would rise in the last quarter, as he so often did for Geelong, and kick two crucial goals to give Geelong the lead against the Eagles and propel the Cats into another Preliminary Final. Their fourth in seven years.
If only he hadn’t swung his arm back and hit Will Schofield in the head and got himself suspended. Had he played the next week, the Cats might’ve progressed to the 2019 decider, as they sorely missed his presence up forward when the whips were cracking late in the game.
8. Semi Final 2014 V North Melbourne – He Almost Got Us There
The first week of finals might not have been his week, but boy could Tom Hawkins deliver in a Semi Final. His second finals performance on this list comes in 2014 against North Melbourne. And although it was not enough to avert the Cats going out in straight sets, Hawkins was a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating end to the season for Geelong fans.
North Melbourne got out to the hot start and before anyone knew what happened it was seven goals to two in the opening term. The Cats would steady and Hawkins would kick two late goals (including one after the siren) to bring it back to a 12-point margin.
But it was in the last quarter that Hawkins made his move (sensing a theme yet?). With Geelong trailing by 32 points and nine minutes left in the match, they needed something, anything, from a player willing to try and win the game. Enter Tom Hawkins. He kicked three goals in less than four minutes of play, to drag the cats back into the match.
Unfortunately, in this instance, the Cats didn’t have the quality to overcome North Melbourne. Hawkins would finish with five goals, 13 marks (Eight inside-50 and five contested) and 18 disposals in a memorable performance.
7. Round 2, 2012 V Hawthorn – His First Big Day Out
After the dizzying heights of 2011, Hawkins was quick to confirm that he would be no flash in the pan with the first of two big performances against the Hawks in 2012 (we’ll get to that other one a bit later).
James Podsiadly probably steals a bit of the limelight with his big finish to this match, but Hawkins’ performance was just as influential, as he continued a run of monstering poor Ryan Schoenmakers and Josh Gibson. This got to the point where Hawthorn went out and recruited Brian Lake from the Bulldogs to deal with their issue of not containing big key forwards.
This was the first game where Hawkins went past 20 disposals, took another telling eight marks inside-50 and five contested grabs. This includes a great grab early in the match where he probably got as high as he ever did, with a towering mark, while Schoenmakers clobbered him in the face.
6. Round 19, 2017 V Carlton – Hawkins Biggest Day out
Hawkins wasn’t in the best form coming into this fixture. It was much talked about. He had kicked only 11 goals in the previous eight matches. Not that it had impacted the teams form too greatly, as they had only lost one of those games.
However, this would be his best ever statistical outing. Seriously, he posted midfielder numbers in this one. 27 disposals, seven inside-50’s, 12 marks, almost 500 metres gained, and he topped it off with six goals. All against a Carlton team featuring Liam Jones and a young Jacob Weitering.
It wasn’t against the strongest opponents, and he has had games where he kicked more goals and had more important moments, but in this match he was everywhere. Constantly involved. It would be up there as one the games he had the most fun in. It deserved to be in this list for the sheer weight of numbers. This was Hawkins at the top of his craft and probably the healthiest he ever was, in terms of being able to get up and down the ground.
5. Round 7, 2023 V Essendon – Vintage Hawkins (A Monster)
Okay, it’s 2023. You’re Essendon. You’re coming up against Geelong who have Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron in the team. Geelong has finally found some form as the reigning premier and the two big blokes up front have combined for 41 goals in the first six games. Who are you rolling up with to try and stop them? Okay, you’ve got a respectable match-up for Jeremy Cameron. A bit of Jordan Ridley, a bit of Jake Kelly. A mixture of height, speed and footy smarts on arguably the game’s best player.
Now who have you got for the big guy? Brandon Zerk-Thatcher…? Okay, with Ridley and Co. rolling off to support he can probably play a bit off Hawkins and maybe just try and keep him contained until the support arrives. Wait, what? No support? You’re going ‘iso’ on Tom Hawkins with Zerk-Thatcher? I’m sure this will turn out fine. Putting a key defender with barely 30 games experience onto a generational forward one-out in defence will reap nothing but huge rewards for your masterful strategy.
Honestly, who knows what Brad Scott was thinking with this one, but leaving Zerk-Thatcher exposed like that against Hawkins was a recipe for disaster, and Scott found that out very quickly.
Just 20 minutes into the first quarter and Hawkins had already kicked four goals. He made Zerk-Thatcher look like an under-18’s player that had snuck into the Bombers change room and thrown a jumper on, just to see what it was like at the top level. It was not a fair fight. Geelong was winning the ball so effectively in the midfield that Hawkins could simply stand and deliver.
It was beautiful to watch as a Geelong fan. It was like the 2011 Grand Final, but in reverse order (and with Hawkins actually kicking straight!)
He would have six goals by halftime before finally breaking through to kick his eighth, and highest total for a match, in the last quarter. That’s not to say he got selfish as he still gave a couple goals away, in true Hawkins style.
He would finish with 16 disposals, 12 marks (five contested and 10 inside 50!) for a vintage performance and trigger another club, for the third time in his career, to go out and recruit an experienced key defender to deal with the problems he created.
4. 2022 Grand Final V Sydney – Igniting the Cat-a-lanche
Our first Grand Final entry slots in at number four. We’re at the pointy end now, people. The Cats were back in the Grand Final after the bitter loss in 2020 and the disappointment of losing another Prelim in 2021. They had started well but had been unable to convert their momentum into a score.
There was excitement among the fans but also a nervous energy. Were we going to blow this prime start with not being able to put the Swans on the back foot with some scoreboard pressure?
Then Tom Hawkins decided he was going to get creative. In two successive forward stoppages Hawkins used his strength to move Tom Hickey out of his way and snap truly on his right foot to ignite the Cats and start an avalanche of goals that resulted in a glorious Grand Final victory.
Hawkins would have his third goal midway through the second quarter and looked set for a big day on the MCG. Alas, he would only manage behinds for the rest of the game and finish with three goals and four behinds in the 81-point win. A great result for the club but a big opportunity left on the tabl,e personally, for the Tommahawk.
He probably doesn’t care, but most Cats fans would argue this was the second time in his career Hawkins threw away a Norm Smith Medal by not kicking straight. He was just clearly too good for his opponent when it mattered and just let himself down slightly with his goal kicking. Hawkins would finish with 14 disposals to go with his three goals, and a lifetime of memories and adoration from Geelong fans for his role in getting the team going when it mattered most.
3. Round 19, 2012 V Hawthorn – They’ve done it Again!
I know, I know, how do I have this match third? Arguably the signature moment of Hawkins career. And I would know that as I have it framed in my house (Photo below).
Not many realise that Hawkins actually kicks the Cats last three goals for the game, to finish with six. He didn’t just spring up out of a hole in the ground in the final minute. Hawkins dominated this last quarter. He only had 13 disposals and six marks for the match, but four of them were contested, and five were inside 50. His second last goal was a great snap from 45-meters out near the boundary, a much-underrated facet of Hawkins game.
In the early part of the last quarter, Hawkins takes his third contested mark inside 50 for the match and outpoints Schoenmakers again. He kicks truly to put Geelong 19 points ahead. Four Hawthorn goals would follow as they would take the lead and look like finally ending the Kennett curse.
With just over three minutes to go, the ball is tapped forward to the Geelong attacking 50-metre arc by Matthew Scarlett (of all people). The ball bounces around a few players before settling in the hands of Hawkins who takes a massive snap from 45-metres out that somehow goes through. The margin is back to two points and a game which looked all but lost is suddenly back up for grabs.
In the ensuing minutes the Hawks threw away a few prime opportunities to put the game to rest and secure a victory, but Geelong still found itself needing to go the length of the field in the final 39 seconds in order to win the game.
Everyone knows how those final moments go. Mackie collects the ball deep in defence. He scrounges a kick to Duncan. Duncan turns and hits up Steve Johnson at half-back. Johnsons turns onto his left foot and unleashes a ludicrous kick toward Joel Selwood in the centre that not many would try at a mid-week training session, let alone the dying seconds of an AFL match! Selwood marks the ball under serious pressure from Brad Sewell, turns and finds Hawkins on the 50-metre arc. Hawkins goes back, thinks about it, and then takes responsibility for the moment.
The siren goes as he’s walking in.
He launches the footy into the stratosphere.
Dennis Cometti shouts “They’ve done it again!”.
I think I watched that last play about 20 times as part of writing this article. It just keeps getting better every time.
And you know what, the Kennett curse is still going to this very day and Geelong has not lost to Hawthorn since. Especially in any important finals.
2. Round 18, 2018 V Melbourne – Hawkins Birthday Special
Yes, this may be a bit controversial, but I rate this match by Tom Hawkins as his best ever. It’s not his most defining match, but it was his masterpiece. Playing down at Kardinia Park against the Demons late in the season. Geelong had suffered an inconsistent year, despite the unification of the “Holy Trinity”.
Geelong was fighting to stay in touch with the top 8, although you would not have known in the first three quarters as Melbourne largely controlled the game and then seemingly ripped it away from the Cats late in the third quarter. When McDonald kicked the Demons fifth consecutive goal early in the last quarter to give them a 29-point lead, you would have forgiven most for believing the game was over.
Surely by now you know where this is going? Tom Hawkins played the best individual quarter of football this Mongrel has seen.
Nine disposals, four goals, a goal assist and a crucial link in the final play to get the final shot on goal to win the game after the siren. Hawkins dominated Oscar McDonald so badly that Melbourne became the second club in his career to go out and recruit an experienced key defender to solve the Hawkins problem.
In less than ten minutes of football, Hawkins took Geelong from being down 29 points to being down by two points, with four disposals resulting in Cats goals.
Kardinia Park was about to explode with the excitement in the stands. The place had never been so loud as that night, and not ever since, even with the ability to fit an extra 10,000 people in.
Later in the quarter, when Hawkins gathered his own crumb after another two-on-one contest in the Cats forward 50, to snap his seventh goal, the foundations of the Ablett & Ford stands shook so much that they cracked, and the state government had to rebuild it and name it after his best mate.
Then there was the final play. The Cats turn the ball over deep in defence. There is under a minute to play. The ball goes out to the wing. Menzel kicks towards centre-half-forward, just inside the centre square, where Hawkins takes a contested mark. Sensing the moment, he handballs off to a running Mitch Duncan who kicks long into attacking 50 for Geelong. Zach Tuohy marks the ball. The rest is history.
It was a surreal moment. Pure jubilation. Tuohy may have kicked the goal after the siren, but everyone in the stadium knew it was Hawkins who had dragged our team across the line.
This was Hawkins “Come With Me” game. That game that some players have where everything they are doing is gold and they are just about begging for their teammates to elevate and follow them. “Just come with me and we’ll win this thing”, and sometimes their teammates do. There is obviously a whole list of players and matches that can be explored under this term. But that is for another time.
And, as we have noted with multiple teams in this article, Melbourne never troubled Geelong again, especially in finals.
1. 2011 Grand Final – The Boy, Becomes a Man, Becomes a Legend.
What more can you say? The story was written perfectly. Hawkins had been marred by inconsistent form during the 2011 season which had seen him in and out of the Cats line-up. He found himself in the team during the final home and away matches and had performed well during the finals, looking to have finally developed some consistency in his game when the Cats needed it (and boy were they going to need it).
Hawkins went into the 2011 Grand Final as arguably the weakest link in Geelong’s forward line that featured names like Johnson & Chapman, Varcoe & Stokes, as well as new recruit and number one forward in James Podsiadly. Hawkins had not stamped himself as a major threat in that team.
Furthermore, even though he was under an injury cloud going into the game, Hawkins was going to be matched up against the All-Australian Centre Half Back, in Ben Reid. A daunting task given the circumstances. Hawkins had been held to less than 10 disposals and only two goals in the Cats two meetings with Collingwood during the 2011 season, even with one of those wins being a 96-point demolition.
The match begins and Hawkins is well held early on. A nice mark in the second quarter, but no real impact on the match. More importantly, James Podsiadly goes down with a dislocated shoulder during the second quarter. It’s a disaster for the Cats as their main target up forward is now out of action after being in a good battle with Collingwood’s Chris Tarrant.
During halftime, footage shows experienced Cat Cameron Mooney talking very emphatically to Hawkins. The commentators and ground are abuzz. The Cats appeared to turn the tide in the second quarter after the “J-Pod” went down. Could they possibly adjust and keep their scoring going without him? It would need Tom Hawkins to perform at a level he had not previously risen to.
And boy did he rise to that level! On the biggest stage of all Hawkins came out in the third quarter and kicked three crucial goals. He becomes a huge factor in the game as he takes some strong marks and begins to look a little too robust for Reid to handle.
The Cats are ahead at three-quarter-time, but it is a nervous energy. There is a long recent history with this Collingwood team. They aren’t about to lay down and give up on this match. However, Tom Hawkins was about to announce himself in the biggest of ways.
Starting the fourth quarter Geelong would get a quick clearance through a skied kick to centre half forward. The ball looks destined for a spillage as players converge on the drop zone, but Hawkins flashes into frame to takes the mark. His shot from outside 50 starts way left but comes back like a boomerang to almost sneak in. He may have missed the goal, but the seed was planted.
A couple minutes later Joel Selwood kicks long into the Cat’s forward 50. Hawkins gets an isolated one-on-one contest with Reid and holds him off with one arm while he takes a juggling mark with the other. Cats fans in the crowd are sensing it. He’s got him beat here. We just need to get it to him. We just need him to kick a bloody goal!!! But he misses again!
Collingwood then turns the ball over on the kick-in to the opposite side of the ground. James Kelly turns straight away and sends another long ball into Geelong’s attack. It happens again! Hawkins disposes of Reid like a child throwing away a ragdoll and takes a commanding mark. The game is his. His opponent looks defeated. Dismay is etched across Reid’s face.
All Hawkins needs to do to cement this moment is a single goal to drive a knife into the Magpies spirit. He senses the play as teammates converge to give some words of advice and chooses to give the ball to the Cats best goalkicker in Steve Johnson, who snaps truly.
It may have been due to nerves, but it is telling that even in his biggest moments, Hawkins was still putting teammates over. He could have gone back and risked his own unsteady shot. To have wanted redemption after missing his previous two attempts. Nope. He wanted that team success more than his own personal pride, or glory. A testament to the man.
Travis Varcoe would kick one of the all-time greatest Grand Final goals a few minutes later and the Cats never looked back. They spoiled the finish to what should’ve been one of the all-time Grand Finals, and pummelled Collingwood in the last quarter.
This half of football transformed Tom Hawkins. He went from that big kid in the schoolyard that wasn’t exactly sure how to use the strength at his disposal, to a mountain of a man that would carve out a level of consistency over the next 12 years that few players can match.
His teammates have reflected on the impact Tom Hawkins had on this match over the years, and it is a unanimous agreement. Hawkins ripped that game away from Collingwood. Matched up on their best defender and the Magpies simply could not stop him. They’ve talked about the confidence it gave them in the second half to simply know they could launch the ball inside forward 50 and Hawkins would be there.
It was a truly special performance that Geelong fans will never forget.
Special mentions
There are other games that Hawkins played a pretty big role in or kicked a few bags in that warrant some sort of mention. I picked some that have a special place in my memory.
Round 3 2014, Dragging the Cats over the line against Collingwood.
Kicked three goals in the last quarter to drag the Cats over the line.
Round 1 2019, 700th goal. Another Match Winner against the Pies
The snap gets better on every rewatch.
Round 5 2012, Wet Weather Specialist against Brisbane.
One-on-one with big “Sauce” Merrett in the torrential rain. Big men should not be this good in the wet.
Round 2 2007, A debut worthy of Lockett comparisons.
A roaring start to his career. Probably set expectations a little high, early on.
Round 5 2014, Another Big Easter Monday. Hawkins Crushes the Hawks.
The curse had been broken but Hawkins was still there. Once again, he rips the game away from an opponent in the last quarter.
Round 14 2014, Sinking the Bombers and Hugging the Fan
Felt like he tapped that ball all the way down the highway to Geelong.
Round 18 2023, A Repeat Dose on Poor Zerk-Thatcher
At some point Brad Scott was just cruel for sending BZT back to Hawkins for a second pilfering in the same season.
A Final Word on the Tommahawk
So, there we have it, some finals, some rivalry games, and a lot of big last quarters (Strangely no Qualifying or Elimination Finals? Oh well, I guess the big guy takes a week to warm into September action).
But seriously, this has been a lot of fun celebrating a legend of the Geelong Football Club. A generational player who dominated a position and withstood the conventions demanding new attributes for players in his position, to show that players with a certain skill set will succeed, if given the opportunity to develop and grow.
It’s important to remember it took Hawkins almost five years to find his feet at AFL level. He is the poster boy for “Big guys take longer to develop”.
Much like his best mate Joel Selwood, Hawkins’ retirement marks the end of an era at Geelong. Both players came to the club in the 2006 draft and debuted in 2007. Hawkins took a little longer to find his way, but together they carried the Geelong Football Club to a period of excellence other clubs can only dream about. Bookended by premierships and taking over the mantle from a golden generation of players unlikely to be seen in the hoops again.
The determination, the resolve. To continually front up after heartbreaking loss, after heartbreaking loss and put yourself right back in a position to be hurt gain, because that’s the only place you can be if you want to succeed. Hawkins helped change the culture of Geelong. A culture of that if you want to be successful you have to give yourself the best chance, and that is by fronting up every day of every week of every year and being willing to get your heart ripped out. You have to ignore all the outside noise telling you that what you’re doing won’t work, in order to achieve something great.
The characteristics of the man are unquestionable. Loved by his teammates, club officials and fans, respected by every AFL luminary, media personality and opponent. A beacon of work-life balance in football and creating a positive environment, not only for teammates and friends, but also their families.
The man deserves nothing less than being remembered for his heroic deeds on the field and the first-class person he was off of it.
And who knows, in a month’s time we might be revisiting this list to shuffle some games around and potentially knock one off… This Mongrel can only hope.
