NRL 2024: The YouTube channel South Sydney‘s Dean Hawkins wants deleted

Dean Hawkins has tried his hardest to have this YouTube channel deleted, but his South Sydney teammates found it and the teasing has been relentless.

Footy Dean first emerged more than a decade ago in the garage and backyard of the Hawkins family home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Rabbitohs halfback Dean Hawkins was around 10 when he decided to start his own YouTube channel, showcasing trick shots with the football and using his younger brother Brent — now a member of Souths’ Jersey Flegg side — as a human tackling bag.

Hawkins, dressed in tracksuit pants and a flannelette shirt, kicks a ball off a tee at a hole 10 metres away and punches the air when he nails it at the first attempt.

He does likewise when he finds the hole with a flick pass through his legs. Things really get interesting when he calls on his brother for a pair of videos titled “Kid gets pumped by a tackle bag”.

Dean ‘Footy’ Hawkins will return to the Rabbitohs starting side in Round 3, after Lachlann Ilias was dropped. Picture: Getty Images

Brent runs at Dean and gets drilled, hitting the deck and calling out “don’t delete that one”. They do it again and this time Brent goes down in a screaming heap, prompting his older brother to utter “ooh shit’ and quickly check on his health.

Hawkins did his best to keep the YouTube footage quiet but his teammates latched onto it and picked up on the nickname. It didn’t help that Hawkins forgot the password, which meant he couldn’t shut it down.

Asked about his nickname on South Sydney’s YouTube channel after his first grade debut in 2021, Hawkins said: “Footy Dean is this YouTube channel that I have been trying to get deleted for probably 10 years now. One of my good mates that plays here just told all the boys and now all the boys call me Footy. I don’t even get called Dean any more, I get called Footy.”

The focus this week at Souths has largely been on the decision to drop Lachlan Ilias, the precursor to robust debate over the future of coach Jason Demetriou and the direction of the mighty Rabbitohs.

Lost in the discourse has been the story of Hawkins, a local junior who has played six games in first grade and gets his latest chance step up against bitter rivals the Sydney Roosters on Friday night at Allianz Stadium.

When he made that first grade debut against Brisbane two years ago, his jersey was presented by long-time teammate and friend Campbell Graham.

Hawkins with long-time friend Campbell Graham.

While Graham has enjoyed a seamless passage to first grade, Hawkins has had to do it the hard way. He has been plugging away in NSW Cup, waiting for a chance that he no doubt feared would never come again given the youth and talent of Ilias.

As much as Demetriou has been a supporter of Ilias, he has also championed Hawkins, insisting that the club keep him on their books.

“People forget that Dean Hawkins had no club, we kept him on a $1000 train and trial because I truly believe that in the long term he’ll be good for us,” Demetrious said in the preseason.

“While that may not have been public, I have definitely supported him and made sure he’s a genuine top 30 player in our club.

“Pete Mamazelous is another one. The list goes on with the players that we’ve stood behind.”

Hawkins’ style of play has drawn comparisons with Souths legend Adam Reynolds but he has had to bide his time behind Ilias and chances are that Ilias will be given another opportunity at some point down the track.

All Hawkins can do is his best. Footy Dean now has his chance.

Originally published as NRL 2024: The YouTube channel South Sydney‘s Dean Hawkins wants deleted