Right from day one Tom Hawkins journey has been nothing short of incredible, from a young man out of Finley to the Geelong Football Club games record holder.
Across 18 years, Hawkins stamped himself as one the competition's most dominant forwards booting 796 goals across 359 AFL games.
Along the way there were premierships, Coleman Medals, best and fairest awards and All Australian selections, all adding up to one of the most impressive resumes in AFL history.
But in between the copious amounts of success, it is easy to forget that it all started on a draft day back in the latter months of 2006.
In a full circle moment at the end of his career, Hawkins sat down with Cats Media and reflected on the day his AFL journey commenced.
"It was an amazing experience and one that I look back at and think of the enjoyment, the excitement levels and the nervousness all being bunched into one," Hawkins said.
"It was my real first experience of feeling that in the one moment.
"I had finished school, I was going into a job that I knew I would love but still had so much to work on and I didn't really know any of the players, aside from a couple. I didn't know how I was going to fit in, so the emotion of that was unbelievable.
"At times I still reflect back on that experience, because ultimately I am going into a new field of work beyond football and will experience the same thing. I often sit back and reflect more now, but I always enjoyed the draft process."
Hawkins was selected by Geelong with Pick 41 in the 2006 National Draft, taken as a father-son selection as he prepared to follow in the footsteps of his Dad, Jack Hawkins.
The Father-Son selection rule took some of the stress out of the process for Tom, knowing his destination and that he would become a Cat prior to the draft.
Hawkins touched on his family connection with the Geelong Football Club, while noting how the day unfolded from his perspective.
"I never thought about my connection and family connections that much, but those connections allowed me to get to Geelong a lot easier," Hawkins said.
"Ultimately Geelong found an easier way to secure me as well, so it was a fun process.
"I had conversations with Stephen Wells before the draft day, a couple of months before knowing that I was going to Geelong.
"The draft day itself wasn't that exciting, it was nice hearing my name being read out but it was probably nicer hearing Joel Selwood and Nathan Djekurra, who I had met and known. It was a great day."
The 2024 Telstra AFL Draft will be held on the 20th and 21st of November, with the Cats currently holding three picks.
