Tom Hawkins: Another footy great drops retirement bombshell just after Dustin Martin announced he’s quitting the AFL immediately
- Geelong great will not play again in 2025
- Holds club record, won three flags
Tom Hawkins still harbours ambitions of playing again this season, but the Geelong champion has confirmed he will retire at the end of the 2024 season.
The Geelong appearance record holder told teammates on Tuesday he would end his 18-year career, which saw him win three championships and become the club’s leading scorer 11 times in a row.
Hawkins, 36, will continue to try to bounce back from the foot injury he sustained in Round 15 against Carlton. The Cats hope he can return to full training within two weeks and plead his case for finals selection.
Geelong football manager Andrew Mackie, a teammate of Hawkins’ for more than a decade, said the star player was a “generational player”.
“Tom has been an incredible presence both on and off the field at Geelong over the past 18 years. He consistently plays at the highest level, and is humble and caring towards his teammates. These have been the hallmarks of his career,” Mackie said.
‘He is a player of a generation who will rightly be praised for his achievements on the pitch, but also for the role he played in shaping our club into what it is today.
‘We would like to thank Tom, his wife Emma and their children Arabella, Primrose and Henry for everything they have done for our club.’
Hawkins overtook good friend and former teammate Joel Selwood earlier this season to break Geelong’s all-time record, which now stands at 359.
Hawkins won three flags in his glittering career with the Cats – including their 2022 triumph over the Swans (pictured)
The 36-year-old has been a regular for the Geelong team since 2007 and holds the record for the most games played for the club (pictured being led off in his 350th game)
His 796 goals are the third most of any Cat, after Gary Ablett Sr and Doug Wade.
The announcement came just minutes after Richmond champion Dustin Martin announced he had played his final football game.
Hawkins, playing in his third season in Geelong’s 2009 flag, scored a controversial goal that appeared to hit the post but was crucial in the Cats’ victory over St Kilda.
Back injuries and a lack of mobility saw him often come under fire as a player in his early years, but in the 2011 finals he emerged as a powerful striker and won the final against Collingwood with a magnificent three-goal performance, netting his second goal.
Following that breakthrough finals run, Hawkins scored at least 46 goals in each of the next 12 seasons and earned five All-Australian blazers, including the honour of the All-Australian captaincy in 2022.