Tom Hawkins

As a forward for Geelong, Tom Hawkins is ranked number 11 in the competition. His recent performance has been ok with an average of 9.7 over the last 5 rounds, playing . For the season he is averaging 9.7. His consistency has been poor and trending down.

Thomas Jack "Tom" Hawkins (born 27 July 1988 in Finley, New South Wales ) is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). The eldest son of former Geelong champion "Jumpin" Jack Hawkins, he was drafted by Geelong under the father-son draft rule and wears the number 26 jumper made famous by his father.

Acknowledged as having endured one of the most hyped and publicised entrances into the AFL in recent times, Hawkins has established a reputation as one of the brightest young key forward prospects in the game, where his man-boy physique and unusual combination of size, strength, and footballing ability have impressed many. Former Carlton coach Dennis Pagan was famously moved to compare him to legendary Swans full-forward Tony Lockett after his debut game.

Hawkins was born in Finley, New South Wales to Jack and Jenny Hawkins. He grew up in the New South Wales region of Finley as the middle child among three other siblings. He attended Finley High School and played for the Finley Football Club before making the move south of the border to begin boarding at Melbourne Grammar School. Hawkins' footballing ability was recognised early on when he was selected to play 1st XVIII football for the school whilst still in Year 10, when many of his teammates were completing their final year of schooling at Year 12. Hawkins kicked four goals on debut for the school and his performances up forward soon received attention from AFL recruiting teams. By the time he had reached his final school year he was rewarded with joint captaincy of the football team alongside Hawthorn draftee Xavier Ellis. He was also selected in the Associated Public Schools (APS) team to play the Associated Grammar School (AGS) selected football team in the traditional annual clash of schools, where he won best on ground honours for his performance.

Having gained permission to join local U/18 club the Sandringham Dragons for numerous games during the season, Hawkins impressed in his limited appearances within the elite TAC Cup competition, highlighted by a 22 disposal, 9 mark, and 5 goal effort in just his third game. In 2006, he was awarded an AIS/AFL Academy Scholarship as part of the 9th intake. The scholarship, awarded to outstanding young athletes entering the last year of their junior football development, saw Hawkins participate in several training camps, capped off with representation for Australia in the U/18 International Rules Series, before completing his summer training with the Geelong Football Club.

In the mid-year of 2006, Hawkins was selected to play in the 2006 Under 18's National Championships, lining up at full forward for Vic Metro. A best on ground performance which yielded 12 marks and 6 goals in the opening match against South Australia began a wave of unprecedented hype and attention, with Hawkins drawing comparisons to Brisbane Lion Jonathan Brown and leading Vic Metro coach David Dickson to declare the young forward as "the best footballer I've seen...since Chris Judd". Hawkins was awarded the Larke Medal as the MVP within Division 1 and named as the tournament's All-Australian full-forward, just falling short of the all-time contested marking record held by Justin Koschitzke.