Doug Hawkins

Doug Hawkins
Statue of Hawkins outside Braybrook Hotel
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Dancing Dougie, Hawk
Date of birth	(1960-05-05) 5 May 1960 (age 64)
Original team(s)	Braybrook (WRFL)
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder/Half Forward
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1978–1994	Footscray	329 (216)
1995	Fitzroy	021 0(11)
Total		350 (227)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
	Victoria	? (?)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1995.
Career highlights
Charles Sutton Medal: 1985 Footscray leading Goal Kicker: 1991 Footscray Captain: 1990–1993 VFL Team of the Year: 1984, 1986
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Douglas James Hawkins (born 5 May 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Footscray and Fitzroy in the Australian Football League (AFL). He also enjoyed a brief career in media and ran for the Senate, as a member of Palmer United Party, in the 2013 Australian federal election.^[1]

Hawkins hailed from the industrialised, working class western suburbs of Melbourne, and although he was a North Melbourne supporter in his youth, competition zoning rules in effect prior to the adoption of a national draft, dictated that Hawkins' rights were 'zoned' to Footscray, given his suburb of residence was nearby Braybrook. He got his wish, making his VFL debut for Footscray in 1978 as a teenager.

Hawkins made his debut in Round 1 1978, against the team he grew up barracking for, the North Melbourne Kangaroos, he recorded 7 disposals and a goal. He played 18 games in his debut season, recording 241 disposals and kicking 11 goals for the season. He played all 22 games in his second season and kicked 17 goals. Over the next few years, he began to make a name for himself as one of the finest wingers the game has ever seen, so much so that at the team's home ground, the Western Oval, the outer wing of the ground was named the "Doug Hawkins Wing".

Hawkins made the VFL team of the year for the first time in the 1984 season, a season in which Hawkins amassed 446 disposals and booted 9 goals for the year. His finest individual season came in 1985, winning the Charles Sutton Medal, his first and only best and fairest award of his career. 1985 saw Hawkins rack up 531 disposals and kick 7 goals for the year. He backed up his 1985 season by making the VFL team of the year again in 1986.

Hawkins was named Captain of Footscray at the beginning of the 1990 season, taking over from Stephen Wallis, he captained the club from 1990 to 1993 and Hawkins was played uncharacteristically as a small forward, as opposed to the wing. He kicked 38 goals in 1991 to win the club goalkicking and followed it up in 1992 with 42 goals. His final season for Footscray came in 1994, with one of his last game's being a famous one, as he broke Ted Whitten's long-standing club record of 321 for Footscray, and Whitten was on hand to congratulate him.

However, after playing 329 games and kicking 216 goals for the Bulldogs, at the conclusion of the 1994 season his contract was not renewed, so he moved to the Fitzroy Football Club for the 1995 season; he played 21 games and kicked 11 goals for the club before announcing his retirement.

^[2]

During his playing career, Hawkins won the club best and fairest award in 1985, represented Victoria five times, and was named in the AFL Team of the Year in 1984 and 1986. Upon reaching 300 senior games, he was awarded AFL Life Membership in 1993.^[3] After retiring, Hawkins was awarded Father of the Year in 1998 and was one of the torch bearers for the 2000 Olympic Games.^[4] When the Bulldogs' Team of the Century was announced in 2002, Hawkins was named on the wing as vice-captain. In 2004, he was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was inducted into the Western Bulldogs Hall of Fame before being upgraded to Club Legend status in 2014.^[5]

Off the field, Hawkins was known as an old-fashioned Aussie larrikin, someone who himself acknowledged he was not one of the smartest people going around, but was always up for a laugh. As a panel member of the Nine Network's The Footy Show during the mid-1990s, he was often portrayed as the show's court jester.^[6] In 1998, Hawkins moved to the Seven Network and appeared on a Wednesday night rival to The Footy Show, Live and Kicking.

Hawkins stood as a candidate for a Victorian Senate seat in the 2013 Australian Federal Election as a member of Palmer United Party.^[1]

Hawkins is married to Raelene, who appeared on Fox Footy's Living with Footballers before it was axed at the end of 2004. They have three children – a son and two daughters. Doug currently resides near Bacchus Marsh and has served as a coach of the Bacchus Marsh Football Club.^{[citation needed]}

• Lovett, Michael, ed. (2013). AFL Record Season Guide 2013. Docklands, VIC: AFL Media. ISSN 1839-8383.

• Doug Hawkins at AustralianFootball.com
• AFL: Hall of Fame