CATS great Cameron Ling believes Tom Hawkins can become an even more imposing player in the years to come as he learns to team up with gun recruit Mitch Clark.

Hawkins will celebrate his 150^th game when he runs out to take on North Melbourne at Simonds Stadium on Sunday, and his former skipper is full of admiration for the star he has become since debuting in 2007.

"It’s exciting to acknowledge the milestone of 150 games for 'Hawk', and congratulations to him for that," Ling told CatsTV.

"I think the exciting thing from all Geelong people's perspective is what's to come.

"He's obviously built his game, and over the last few years he's turned himself into one of the premier key forwards in the competition."

Hawkins booted 68 goals from 24 games last season, recapturing the form that powered him into the All Australian team in 2012.

But Ling, who played alongside the big forward in the 2009 and 2011 premiership teams, believes the best is yet to come.

"The great things is I think Hawk is only going to keep getting better and better as he learns how to work with Mitch Clark in the forward line," Ling said.

"That's pretty exciting, considering the standard he's set during his first 150 games.

"I'm not saying he's got another 150 more games in him, but if he's got another 100 games in him, they're going to be a pretty exciting 100 games.

"I can't wait to watch them."

To watch Cameron Ling and Cats recruiting boss Stephen Wells discuss the development of Tom Hawkins click on the video player at the top of the page