Geelong premiership greats Steve Johnson, Harry Taylor and Doug Wade laud champion Tom Hawkins

Three Geelong premiership greats have recognised Tom Hawkins’ enormous contribution to the club on and off the field.

Geelong great Steve Johnson has declared that his two-time premiership teammate Tom Hawkins is one of the most selfless players of all-time, saying he is comfortably among the best players to have pulled on the Cats guernsey.

Johnson, who wreaked havoc at the feet of Hawkins for close to a decade, and two-time premiership defender Harry Taylor both said his ability to put others first both on and off the field stood out.

Hawkins has kicked 796 goals across his incredible 359-games but has also set up a further 296 goal assists, ranking third all time in that statistic behind fellow champions Eddie Betts and Scott Pendlebury.

Off it, Hawkins made everyone around him feel like they belonged — whether that be his good mate Joel Selwood or hard-working Cats staff members.

Tom Hawkins and Steve Johnson celebrate a goal. Picture: George Salpigtidis

“Aside from being a genuine gun and a star of the Geelong Footy Club he is one of the most selfless players to have played the game probably in its history in regards to his ability to bring others into the game with his selfless attitude with his goal assists,” Johnson said.

“Selfless in regards to what he does on the field to make people better, but then around the changerooms he has got every right to have an ego. It doesn’t matter whether you are his best mate, in Joel Selwood, or one of the older guys finishing or a younger player.

“He has a great relationship and repour with everyone through from players, staff and everyone and he has always been held in such high regard by anyone that meets him.

“He comfortably sits inside the top 10 players (for Geelong) of all-time, if not a lot higher than that based on his overall performance and longevity.”

Taylor, who played in three grand finals alongside Hawkins for two premierships, echoed that sentiment.

“He is one of the best teammates that I ever got to play with, there is no doubting that in my mind for a lot of reasons, but the one that probably stands out the most is selflessness with which he played the game,” Taylor said.

“Really connected to his own family but also connected to his teammate’s families, always went out of his way to feel comfortable. Whether hey have been there for one minute or 20 years, he always went out of his way to make people feel comfortable – not only players but staff as well.

“It is stuff that we think happens all the time but it doesn’t, it takes energy and it takes effort, but Hawk was just unbelievable at making people feel really connected to the Geelong Footy Club.”

He said Hawkins played a pivotal role in his 280-game career with their weekly duels at training.

Harry Taylor and Tom Hawkins hug it out after a win in 2018. Picture: King/AFL Media/Getty Images

“I’ve got no doubt that I wouldn’t be the player I ended up being if I didn’t have someone to train against every single week like big ‘Hawk’,” Taylor said.

“We had some pretty good rivalries at training but we knew each other’s game so well and we learned so much off each other in terms of how we played, we tried to adapt different styles based on who we would face on the weekend.

“Very fortunate that you get to play with great players but it also means you get to train with great players and when you’re up against one of the best every single week, it can only help you get so much better individually.

“His ability to stand up in the big moments, those things I think are outstanding qualities of great players and he did those two things really well for a really long period of time.

“There was some big, big moments in grand finals and it wasn’t necessarily always at the end of game, it was often this period of time just after halftime – what we call the ‘premiership quarter’ where he had this ability to kick an important goal for us.”

While Hawkins has become synonymous with the goal after the siren against Hawthorn back in 2012, Johnson doesn’t have fond memories of it.

“That was one moment, I wish I could have taken it back because I tried to lift him on my shoulder after he kicked it and my back nearly collapsed,” Johnson said with a laugh.

Johnson said the powerful forward’s statement in the 2011 grand final is his most memorable in his eyes.

“The 2011 grand final was my favourite Tom Hawkins performance. There was a quarter-and-a-half of footy there where he took the game by the scruff of the neck and if it wasn’t for his performance, we wouldn’t have won that game,” Johnson said.

“He is probably unlucky not to have won the Norm Smith that day it was a sensational performance.”

Tom Hawkins is swamped by teammates after his goal after the siren in 2012 against the Hawks. Picture: AAP Image/David Crosling

Geelong goalkicking great Doug Wade, who sits in second of the Cats’ all-time goalkicking list, said Hawkins is one of the best players to wear the hoops.

Wade marvelled at the longevity of Hawkins’ 18-year career.

“He sits right up there. It is rarely a big bloke of his stature who would last that long,” Wade said.

“He gave a lot of goals out too, for a big guy he was a magnificent kick. We know what he is like kicking for goal but just placement kicks too. If he had to kick a short one into a lead he was as good as any of them.”

Wade conceded he was lucky to play in an era fit for full forwards and was reluctant to compare Hawkins and Geelong legend Gary Ablett Sr.

“One is an excitement machine just about any time he played, where Tom was just a stoic player who was absolutely brilliant when he got the ball in his hands – especially kicking for goal,” Wade said.

“I kicked a lot of points, but Tom wouldn’t have kicked as many as I did.

“In the old days I never went out of the goalsquare or 30-40 metres, you weren’t allowed to by your coach.”

Originally published as Geelong premiership greats Steve Johnson, Harry Taylor and Doug Wade laud champion Tom Hawkins