Geelong spearhead, Tom Hawkins continues to climb the record books in his 17th AFL season, following an impressive performance against West Coast in Adelaide.
Hawkins booted four goals to take his overall career tally to 741, surpassing Carlton legend Stephen Kernahan to move to 17th in the all-time goal-kickers list.
Averaging over two-goals per game across his illustrious career, the three-time premiership Cat now sits just behind Barry Hall and Sav Rocca as he looks set to move inside the top-15 on the all-time goal-kickers in 2023.
But as discovered on the Geelong Cats round six podcast, Hawkins can also be regarded as one of the most unselfish forwards in the game’s history.
Racking up 281 goal assists across his 332 games, Hawkins sits second all-time for assists just behind legendary small forward, Eddie Betts. The ‘Tomahawk’ is one of just two key forwards currently in the top-ten of the goal assists list, proving just how valuable he has been to the Geelong forward line across his career.
Cameron Ling and Meg McDonald discussed this topic on the To the Final Bell podcast.
“Tom Hawkins moved past ‘Sticks’ Kernahan, one of the greatest of all time with his 738th goal. So, he’s climbing that ladder of greatest goal-kickers ever, McDonald said.
“It got me thinking, how many has he given away?
“He has given away 281 goal assists in his time, which puts him second all-time since they started recording the stat.”
Tom Hawkins isn’t the only Cat to feature on the goal assists list, with four of the top seven all-time assist leaders coming from Geelong.
Joel Selwood sits fourth on the list with 264 assists, Gary Ablett Jr. finished his time at the Cats in sixth with 261, while mercurial Cat Steve Johnson rounds out the Geelong contingent in seventh, with 256 assists across his career.
Patrick Dangerfield also features on the goal assist table, sitting 15th with 214 from his 308 games.
This season, Gryan Miers is carrying on the tradition, leading the league with 11 goal assists so far this season, with Hawkins, in equal second place with 8.
The goal-assist statistic shows the unselfish nature of the Geelong Football Club, and why they have been so dominant over the past two decades.
The team first approach is perfectly encapsulated by Tom Hawkins, who continues to be a key influence each week for the Geelong team.
