EDITORIAL – RUSSELL HOLMESBY
Size of the stage may vary, but drama resonates at every level
Jack Hawkins had every right to be a proud father in the Geelong rooms after the game in which his son had made such an impact.
And as a good Geelong man he had a double sense of pride in the success of the club for which he once went to war.
As a 182-game player and former Victorian representative, Hawkins can look at the play of his son and others with a hard-headed football approach born out of years of involvement at elite and country level.
Smiling amid the celebrations, he offered a no-frills but well-educated view of his son's game.
"That's what you hope big guys do in your forwardline," he said. "Sometimes they do and other days it doesn't happen.
"Tom hasn't been able to do it a lot, but at times he has shown he can do it and over the past six weeks he has done it more consistently."
Hawkins senior was well aware of the magnitude of the task set for his son.
"It was the big stage and he had a good opponent, they had a very formidable backline, Collingwood – I think they had three or four All-Australians there," he said.
"Geelong changed their plan a bit over the past two months and deliberately kicked long and had a lot of big kicks into their forwardline. I think that has helped Tom."
Jack Hawkins has long been aware there was niche his son could fill – if it all came together.
"Moons (Cam Mooney) had been a great forward for Geelong, but he's not a big, robust type," he said.
"Tom was that guy who they had to get confidence in … to do that."
Part of that process has been the element of confidence both within young Hawkins himself and within teammates towards him.
"You can only build confidence and it doesn't just happen," his dad said.
"The other thing is that you have to earn the confidence of your teammates.
"If they have an option of kicking to Stevie Johnson over here or to Tom … if I've got the footy and have the option of kicking to Stevie J or Tom Hawkins, I'm probably going to pick Stevie J.
"But now I'll look and see who is in the best position."
The unexpected factor in the Grand Final was the injury that forced James Podsiadly form the field.
"Initially when Pods went off it meant we had an extra small man in there," Hawkins senior said.
"(Chris) Tarrant is a bloody good backman and I was hoping he wouldn't go to Tom. He went to Tom for a little while then went back to Stevie J. Reid is obviously a very good player – an All-Australian – he's more Tom's type – same height.
"I suspect he wasn't 100 per cent fit and he wasn't quick off the mark."
Speaking to a media throng in the rooms, Hawkins junior was asked about his strong contribution in the finals.
"To be honest I hadn't really thought of it that way. It's really a special group of 22," the youngster said.
"They've worked extremely hard during the whole year. It's just a big reward for that."
Like his father, the young forward acknowledged that confidence was an all-important factor.
"Confidence is a big part of football. I had the trust of the playing group and the coaching staff," he said.
"It was just about getting a bit of confidence and enjoying my footy, which I seem to be doing."
And the Podsiadly exit played a part.
"It was really disappointing that Pods went down," the big Cat said.
"But I suppose with one tall forward down and the resting ruckman coming back – but they were also working really hard in the midfield – I suppose it did cross my mind that this was a really good time for me to assert myself on the game."
For Tom Hawkins this game was a major landmark in his career.
All the dreams that Geelong has held for him suddenly came into being.
"Now the big test for me and the team is to repeat that next year," he said.
For now though, Hawkins senior and junior can savour the moment.
