Thomas John Hawkins (born 21 July 1988) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). At 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) tall and weighing 110 kilograms (240 lb), Hawkins has the ability to play as either a full-forward or centre half-forward. He grew up in New South Wales before moving to Victoria to attend Melbourne Grammar School, where his football abilities earned him a spot in the first XVIII in year ten. He played top-level football with the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup and Vic Metro in the AFL Under-18 Championships. His accolades as a junior include national and state representation, the Larke Medal as the AFL Under-18 Championships most valuable player, and All-Australian selection.
As the eldest son of former Geelong champion Jack Hawkins, Hawkins was drafted by Geelong under the father-son draft rule with the forty-first selection in the 2006 national draft. He made his AFL debut in 2007, which saw former Carlton coach, Denis Pagan compare him to the highest goal scorer in the history of the league and former full-forward, Tony Lockett, after his debut game. His debut season saw him earn an AFL Rising Star nomination and he was part of Geelong's Victorian Football League (VFL) premiership side. He has since become a two-time AFL premiership player, a Coleman Medalist, an All-Australian full forward, a Carji Greeves Medallist as the club best and fairest player, a ten-time leading goalkicker for Geelong, and a recipient of the former AFL Army Award-awarded to a player who produces significant acts of bravery or selflessness during a season.
Early life
Hawkins was born in Finley, New South Wales to Jack and Jenny Hawkins.[3] He grew up in the New South Wales region of Finley as the second child among four children. He attended Finley High School and played for the Finley Football Club before making the move south of the border to begin boarding at Melbourne Grammar School.[4] Hawkins' footballing ability was recognised early on when he was selected to play first XVIII football for the school while still in year ten, when many of his teammates were completing their final year of schooling at year twelve.[2][4] Hawkins kicked four goals on debut for the school and his performances up forward soon received attention from AFL recruiting teams. By the time he had reached his final school year he was rewarded with joint captaincy of the football team alongside Hawthorn draftee Xavier Ellis. He was also selected in the Associated Public Schools (APS) team to play the Associated Grammar School (AGS) selected football team in the traditional annual clash of schools, where he won best on ground honours for his performance.[5]
Having gained permission to join local under-18 club in 2006, the Sandringham Dragons for numerous games during the season, Hawkins impressed in his limited appearances within the elite TAC Cup competition, highlighted by a twenty-two disposal, nine mark, and five goal effort in just his third game.[4] In the same year, he was awarded an AIS/AFL academy scholarship as part of the ninth intake.[6] The scholarship, awarded to outstanding young athletes entering the last year of their junior football development, saw Hawkins participate in several training camps, capped off with representation for Australia in the under-18 International Rules Series, before completing his summer training with the Geelong Football Club.
In the mid-year of 2006, Hawkins was selected to play in the 2006 AFL Under-18 Championships, lining up at full forward for Vic Metro. A best on ground performance which yielded twelve marks and six goals in the opening match against South Australia began a wave of unprecedented hype and attention, with Hawkins drawing comparisons to former Brisbane Lions forward, Jonathan Brown and leading Vic Metro coach David Dickson to declare the young forward as "the best footballer I've seen...since Chris Judd".[7] Hawkins was awarded the Larke Medal as the most valuable player within division one and named as the tournament's All-Australian full-forward, just falling short of the all-time contested marking record held by Justin Koschitzke.
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