Carji Greeves Medal: Geelong star Max Holmes wins as retiring champion Tom Hawkins recognised with two off-field awards

There was a clear winner in Geelong’s best and fairest count, and Tom Hawkins was recognised for his hefty off-field contributions in his final season. Recap the Carji Greeves Medal night here.

Dan Batten and Ben Cameron

4 min read

October 4, 2024 - 12:51AM

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Geelong speedster Max Holmes has been rewarded for his breakout season by winning his first Carji Greeves Medal on Thursday night.

Holmes, 22, took out the Cats’ best-and-fairest in a canter, polling a whopping 164 votes – 44 more than runner-up Zach Guthrie.

The damaging defender-midfielder, who re-signed until the end of 2028 in April, polled in 22 of his 25 matches and was judged as Geelong’s best player in six of those.

Holmes’ exhilarating run was a feature across the season, gaining the second-most metres in the competition behind Sydney’s Errol Gulden and recording the third most running bounces.

He also led the Cats for SuperCoach points, disposals and uncontested possessions.

Prolific goalkicker Jeremy Cameron finished on the podium with 117 votes, while vice-captain Tom Stewart (117) and goalsneak Tyson Stengle (107) rounded out the top-five.

3rd place Jeremy Cameron , Carji Greeves medal winner Max Holmes and 2nd place Zach Guthrie Picture: Mark Wilson

Votes were calculated by Geelong’s senior and assistant coach rating each player’s performance on a scale of 0-10.

Players only polled in games where their performance is deemed to be a high quality by the coaching group.

Retiring forward Tom Hawkins proved once again he truly is a champion on and off the field, receiving the Carter Family Community Champion award and being recognised as the joint winner of the Tom Harley Best Club Person award along with Tom Atkins.

The 36-year-old took out the Cater Family Community Champion award for being immersed in the Cats community programs, visiting junior football clubs, schools and hospitals and involvement with ‘Cats Wishes’.

Rising Star winner Ollie Dempsey, who finished seventh in the Carji Greeves Medal count, unsurprisingly won Geelong’s best first year player award.

Torquay talent Patrick Hughes was the ‘Little Vic’ award winner as the Geelong VFL’s best first year player – named after the late Vic Fuller, a former Geelong volunteer.

RECAP ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NIGHT BELOW

10:45PM HAWKINS WINS ANOTHER AWARD

Tom Hawkins and Tom Atkins have taken out the Tom Harley Best Club Person Award as joint winners.

In a surprise to noone, Ollie Dempsey has won the best young player award.

Meanwhile at round 18, Max Holmes has skipped ahead to a 33 vote lead. He has 120 votes, with Zach Guthrie (87), Tyson Stengle (83) on the podium.

10:05PM HARDIE NAMED VFL’S BEST

Mitch Hardie was recognised as Geelong’s VFL best-and-fairest.

The uncapped Cat polled 19 votes in the Liston Trophy and was unlucky to be cut by the Cats last week.

9.50PM CARJI GREEVES LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 11

Max Holmes leads the way at around the halfway mark, with Zach Guthrie and Tyson Stengle on the podium. Who wins it from here?

1 - Max Holmes 79 votes

2- Zach Guthrie 74

3 - Tyson Stengle 63

Gryan Miers 63

5 - Tom Stewart 47

6 Ollie Henry 45

7 Jeremy Cameron 44

8 Brad Close 42

9 - Mark Blicavs

10 - Tanner Bruhn

9:30PM WHICH FLAG WAS HAWK’S FAVOURITE?

Hint: it isn’t the one you were expecting.

Actually, it was the 2007 VFL premiership that is the fondest of Tom Hawkins’ memory, with the 2022 premiership with a new group a close second.

“That was my first experience of grand final day and I’ll never forget that experience with senior players,” Hawkins said.

Host Jacqueline Felgate also dug up a hilarious story from Hawkins’ wife, Emma, about deliveries a two-headed calf one gameday - yes, you read that right.

“I was flustered because the calf I delivered had two heads, and it was on gameday and I had my dad on a phone call. I delivered a two headed calf, which is probably a bit of a reflection on my breeding program,” Hawkins said with a laugh.

Up on stage with Hawkins, Zach Tuohy gave a heartfelt thanks to head of development Nigel Lappin in particular.

“Nig, I told you to your face what I think of you because it made you more comfortable… outside of my parents, I don’t think anyone has had more of a profound impact on me as a player and person,” Tuohy said.

Tom and Emma Hawkins arrive at Geelong’s best and fairest. Picture: Mark Stewart

9.15PM CHRIS SCOTT ON THE FUTURE

Chris Scott said the Cats needed to take risks in its plans for 2025 but not at the expense of its culture.

“We need to think laterally about how we improve,” Scott said.

“(Cats president) Craig (Drummond) also mentioned it before, we need to be open to risk … (but) we will never take any risks that have the potential to completely blow up our football club, that is our responsibility.

“But if we are going to succeed, we need to be at the margin a little bit with our strategy.”

8:02PM CARTER COMMUNITY CHAMPION AWARD

Tom Hawkins has received the Carter Community Champion award, proving he is a champion on and off the field — literally.

7:58PM STEWART LEADS AFTER ROUND 5

Reigning Carji Greeves medallist Tom Stewart is off to a strong start, leading all comers with 38 votes after round five.

7:37PM A GENUINE LEGEND

Geelong president Craig Drummond kicked off his speech by commending recruiting doyen Stephen Wells, who is in his 40th year at the club.

“This man is a genuine legend of the footy club,” Drummond said.

7:03PM GRYAN’S GOLDEN BOOT

Gryan Miers again showed off his Lionel Messi skills in the preliminary final, and it seems one of his boots is on sale at Geelong’s best and fairest....