Geelong Cats star Tom Hawkins has revealed the heartbreaking news that left him ‘shattered’ ahead of his milestone 300th game on Friday.
Geelong’s star forward Tom Hawkins will make his 300th appearance for the Cats on Friday night against Port Adelaide but will be without three of his biggest supporters for the milestone clash.
The Cats will enter a hard quarantine from 6pm on Tuesday, forcing Hawkins to leave his wife and two daughters as the side gears up for another tilt at a premiership.
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For the 33-year-old, finding out he wouldn’t be able to bring his family for the big occasion left him heartbroken.
“Obviously, they’re not going to be able to come across and I’m going to be away from them for a bit, which to be honest I was shattered about early,” Hawkins said.
“I would’ve really loved to be able to take my two girls out and have Emma in the race.
“I would have loved to have my immediate family and my friends to the game to watch me play.
“Arguably they’ve been the most important people in my journey, so that’s going to be disappointing.
“But I take solace in the fact that I’ve got my teammates there who are the other part of getting me to where I am today.
“I’ll enjoy that experience, but there will certainly be part of me that wishes things were a little bit different.”
Despite his family being unable to attend the game, Hawkins believes one of his daughters, Arabella, will be screaming at the TV in excitement.
“She’s at that age where she’s really starting to take an interest and probably consistently work out and join the dots that I’m out there playing,” Hawkins said.
“The hub experience last year, although challenging, was wonderful for her and my daughter Primrose.
“They’re certainly going to miss it and I’m going to really miss having them there, but we’ll get to enjoy it and celebrate at a later time.”
Hawkins made his debut for Geelong in 2007 against Carlton and hasn’t looked back since.
The full-forward has won two premierships with the Cats, along with countless accolades including Geelong’s leading goalkicker for 10 seasons straight, three All-Australian team selections and the Coleman Medal in 2020 for most goals kicked in a season.
While his 300th game may be without family and friends in attendance, it may not be the last milestone in Hawkins’ career.
The star doesn’t have any plans to hang up the boots just yet and is keen to continue kicking goals for years to come.
“I honestly do (have more years left),” Hawkins said.
“I think I’m in a privileged position where I’m in my 15th season, I’m going into my 14th year of finals.
“I’m privileged to be in this position to be able to represent a club that puts us in the best possible shape.
“Although you could arguably look back on the last 10 years and we haven’t been able to win a premiership, but we get given a chance every year.
“There’s nothing more exciting than the feeling that finals gives.
“Obviously, the last two years have been very different to what they’ve been for the first 13 years, but there’s still just as much excitement for what’s potentially ahead for our group.”
The Cats enter the finals series on the back of a narrow four-point loss to Melbourne in the final round of the regular season.
They’ll no doubt look to go one better in the finals than they did last year, with a disappointing 31-point loss to Richmond continuing their premiership drought since 2011.
Geelong’s finals campaign kicks off against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
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