Shattered and excited all at the same time as Hawkins reaches 300
Star Geelong forward Tom Hawkins is shattered his family won’t be able to attend Friday night’s qualifying final in Adelaide for his 300th match as he hunts down the third premiership of his illustrious career.
He will be in home quarantine with wife Emma and daughters Arabella and Primrose from 6pm Tuesday until the Cats leave for Adelaide on Thursday to spend the finals series on the road.
Tom Hawkins with his daughters before game 250 in 2019.Credit:Getty Images
Hawkins said he understood the reality of the situation, but it did not stop his initial disappointment at not being able to carry his two children out on to the ground for the milestone match.
“They’re not going to be able to come across and I’m going to be away for a bit which, to be honest, I was shattered about early,” Hawkins said
“I would’ve loved to have taken my two girls out and have [wife] Emma in the race and have my immediate family and my friends to the game to watch me play.
“I take solace in the fact that I’ve got my teammates there who are the other part of getting me to where I am today. That’s life, I’m only going to play 300 games once and I understand the situation, but it is a bit disappointing.”
The 33-year-old has played in 26 finals in his career, earning three All-Australians, a Coleman Medal and two flags since making his debut in 2007. He believes he can keep on playing for two or three more seasons as the Cats continue to chase the flag that has eluded them since 2011.
He has played in five qualifying finals since that premiership, when he came of age with a match-winning performance in the grand final against Collingwood. He becomes the sixth Cat to reach 300 games, joining Corey Enright, Joel Selwood, Ian Nankervis, Jimmy Bartel and John Newman.
Hawkins reflected on his early years when he was a maligned youngster as he went from a dominant junior when he weighed 102 kilograms and stood at 198 centimetres to a battling league player at the same height and weight.
“At times I wrestled with the idea that I wish I had my time again to probably dedicate and work through that period a bit better, but I have learned so much … I would not change my journey,” Hawkins said.
He hopes his career can extend for another two or three years as the drive to win a premiership as a senior player has not diminished. He said he was fortunate to play for a club that put itself in contention so regularly.
“You could arguably look back on the last 10 years and we haven’t been able to win a premiership, but we get given a chance every year, so there is nothing more exciting than the feeling finals gives,” Hawkins said.
This campaign begins, as it did last season, with a qualifying final against Port Adelaide. Hawkins was inaccurate in that match, kicking five behinds as Port prevailed by 16 points in a low-scoring match.
Hawkins is not sure how Friday night will transpire, but he won’t be overcomplicating matters as the Cats head away with a “simple mindset, simple game plan we will look to execute”.
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