‘There are certainly no regrets’: Tom Hawkins on retiring from AFL, fashion and his private texts with Dustin Martin
In his first sit-down since announcing his retirement, Tom Hawkins reveals the private exchange he had with Tigers superstar Dustin Martin - as they both called time on their AFL careers.
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Trading footy boots for a moon boot wasn’t on Tom Hawkins’ to-do list. But in the aftermath of an injury that left the star Geelong player sidelined for weeks during the peak of AFL season (which he has confirmed will be his last), Hawkins found his leg on a metaphoric bench.
Luckily Hawkins, 36, has a back-up career, of sorts – in fashion.
While he’s a natural on the footy field, he confesses he doesn’t feel the same about being in front of the camera, despite his interest. “I’m a footballer, not a model,” Hawkins tells Stellar with a laugh.
“So I very much feel like an amateur when I get on set. It’s really fun to do, though.
“When you’re wearing training shorts and singlets every day, it’s nice to get out of footy gear. I have always loved fashion,” he adds.
“I’m a country kid, with country roots – I’ve certainly got a bit of that country boy collar, jeans, boots, hats every now and then, if the occasion suits. It’s a fun part of expressing myself outside of the club.”
Back to footy – and that foot injury. The joint and ligament damage he sustained in June, during the Cats’ 63-point loss against Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, saw him ruled out at a crucial point in the season.
Last week, the three-time Premiership player confirmed he will retire at the end of this season – one that marks his 18th year playing for Geelong, the team he grew up barracking for (his father is Geelong legend turned livestock farmer “Jumping” Jack Hawkins). Though Hawkins is eyeing a return to the Cats this month, before he officially calls time on his career. Speaking to Stellar in the wake of his retirement announcement – his first sit-down since his announcement on Tuesday – Hawkins says he will leave the game with “no regrets”.
“I’m going to miss it – it will be emotional regardless of the circumstance I am in,” Hawkins tells Stellar, when asked to imagine how he will feel when the final siren sounds.
“There are certainly no regrets … even those regrets along the way are learning opportunities. Each moment that hasn’t gone my way I have learnt some really valuable lessons. My approach now is to enjoy every last minute.”
Hawkins announced his retirement the same day Tigers superstar Dustin Martin also called time on his footy career. Reflecting on Martin, Hawkins muses: “Dusty, he is going to leave a bigger legacy than I am, that’s for sure. He has done it in true Dusty Martin style.”
Hawkins revealed the pair shared a private exchange later that night. “I shared texts with him on Tuesday night, just to congratulate him – as he did to me. So it was a day I probably won’t ever forget,” Hawkins says.
Though Hawkins says he is still not used to watching Geelong play as a spectator, revealing: “I sit there as a fan and barrack as the Cats and I sit there and watch it as an observer. Being out for a couple of months now, our game is incredibly hard to play – and very easy to watch, has been my big takeaway.”
As for the injury that has kept Hawkins sidelined since June? He is almost philosophical about it. “Injuries are part of life, part of football; it’s not something you wish or plan for,” he says pragmatically. “Throughout my playing career, I’ve been relatively injury-free. It’s a minor setback, but I’m tracking well now.”
The forced time off has given Hawkins a chance to reflect on what life will look like after football – a future that includes running his family’s farm, his soon-to-be-released memoir, and an ambassador role for the fashion brand Gant.
Even so, he tells Stellar, “The injury, in some respects, has [allowed me to] put my energy into something else outside of playing.
“The reality is, I’m missing time. I’m well aware – and have been for a few years – about how lucky I am to be playing football, still, at my age,” he admits.
“It’s always been in the back of my mind, ‘what’s next?’ I’m certainly exploring a few of those ideas, like anyone does. That’s one of the hardest parts of playing professional sport – you’re in it for a [short] time, you want to make the most of it.
“You’re always conscious there’s life beyond football. My energy is eventually going to be put elsewhere. I’m looking forward to having time off and enjoying some of the things like travel, with family and friends. I’ve got an idea of what that looks like post-football.”
Hawkins already revisited his past – at length. His memoir, which is available this Tuesday (“Believe it or not, it’s called Tom Hawkins... I’m a simple guy”), covers his “life to date. It’s a snapshot of my career, from getting drafted [to] a bit of a deep dive into the lessons I’ve learnt along the way. It’s been a really fun process; a bit full on, but it has come together.”
Growing up in Finley, a country town on the border of NSW and Victoria, Hawkins dreamt of playing AFL like his dad and other Geelong heroes Gary Ablett Sr and Billy Brownless. “I went straight out of school into my first job, and that job [was] to be drafted and represent the Geelong footy club,” he says.
Now, along with his wife Emma – an influencer and business owner who he married in 2016, after they met at high school – and their three children (Arabella, 7, Primrose, 5, and Henry, 2), the AFL player lives on a property in the Barrabool Hills, near Geelong, where he immerses himself in farm life, tending to the lambs and Angus cows with as much focus as he does AFL.
As Emma tells Stellar with a laugh, “I always say I’m married to a professional footballer and a wannabe farmer. I have no doubt that if he wasn’t drafted at the age of 18, he would be a professional farmer by now. I can’t wait to see where his love of agriculture takes him after football – although I don’t think I’m necessarily suited to [being] a full-scale farmer’s wife, so we’ll have to find something in the middle.”
The couple’s eldest daughter, Arabella, recently completed her first year of AFL Auskick, the junior footy introductory program. So how would Hawkins feel if his children wanted to follow in his sporting footsteps?
“There’s a father-daughter [AFL draft] rule,” he reveals. “I was drafted under the father-son rule at Geelong – my dad played 182 games for the Cats. The kids will be eligible for both father-son and father-daughter [rule].
“It’s a bit early to tell if they will play. Our approach to the kids is to do things that they enjoy and have fun doing, and that was something Belle really enjoyed this year. It’s so good to see first-hand how much collaboration there is [between the AFL and the AFL Women’s leagues]. Watching my daughters have the ability to learn our game from a grassroots level is so good.
“We’d get right behind them [pursuing footy] – or if they wanted to follow their mother’s path, we would do the same thing,” he says of the parenting outlook he shares with Emma, who as well as co-founding the children’s clothing line Homegrown Kids also has 143K followers on Instagram.
“I’m learning as a parent [that] time goes quick... and they will be at that stage no doubt very soon,” he adds. “They do love the game – football is a big part of their life, as it is mine.”
Hawkins credits his family – and their laid-back lifestyle on the farm – with helping him keep perspective, particularly while recovering from his injury and as the AFL finals roll around in September.
“[The team] is trying to get the most important parts of our game humming for that time of year. We’re in the hunt – so are a lot of other sides – but I can’t wait for when we get to the business end.”
The fact that Hawkins is still playing in his mid-30s when many in his cohort have already retired isn’t lost on the key forward.
“By no means am I comparing myself to [NBA star] LeBron James or [champion tennis player] Novak Djokovic,” he explains, “but it’s fascinating watching the space of professional athletes. The science and the knowledge within our football club is second to none,” he says of the career longevity of today’s sport stars, well beyond the usual age of retirement. “[There are] new ways of training, of looking after yourself.”
So, will there come a time when Hawkins thinks AFL footballers won’t be bound by age and can still play at an elite level into their late-30s and beyond?
“There are so many resources now for players [that can help you] better prepare yourself and continue to carry yourself through sport,” he says.
“There are so many experts in the sporting field that we’ve got access to. It’s great that we’re evolving the conversation of players playing well into their 30s in our sport. You’ve got such a short window to create your career and to set yourself up.”
See the full shoot with Tom Hawkins inside Stellar this Sunday. For more from Stellar, click here.
Originally published as ‘There are certainly no regrets’: Tom Hawkins on retiring from AFL, fashion and his private texts with Dustin Martin
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