Finley product Tom Hawkins speaks about his chances of returning to the Cats following his AFL retirement

By Liam Nash

Aug 7, 2024

Finley product Tom Hawkins commented on whether he’d return to his junior club at a press conference announcing his AFL retirement at the end of Geelong’s 2024 season. Photo: AAP/Julian Smith. Photo by JULIAN SMITH

Will we see “Tomahawk” don Cats’ colours in 2025?

The answer is a firm no if the variety of Cats referenced is Geelong, following Hawkins’ announcement on Tuesday he will retire from the AFL at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign.

However, what about the Cats’ garb of Finley, his junior club?

During Tuesday’s media conference, Hawkins answered the inevitable question of whether or not he would return to the Riverina region and pull on a Finley Cats jersey for one last dance.

“Well, I actually got a message before from a kid I went to school with saying was I going to come back and play for the Finley Cats in 2025,” Hawkins said.

“Now, I talked about partnerships and Emma (Hawkins’ wife) being one of them.

“It’s not a matter of convincing me, it's a matter of convincing Emma to let me leave for an eight-hour round trip up the highway, but we’ll wait and see at this stage.”

Hawkins, who teeters on the edge of immortality with 796 goals in the AFL (13th of all time), has not ruled out a Finley return judging by his response.

The 2020 Coleman medallist and three-time premiership Cat would be the highest-profile coup any Murray Football League side would have captured in recent memory, and it would send shock waves through the town for all the right reasons.

However, there are bigger concerns at the current period in time.

Geelong sits fifth on the AFL ladder and with finals footy likely but not certain, Hawkins has committed to doing everything in his power to help the Cats creep closer to another storied premiership.

And maybe even tick off the 800-goal milestone in the process.

“We will enjoy this little period and hope to maybe do that and tick off at some stage,” Hawkins said.

“Not to get too serious, but I’m really conscious that I want to make sure that I’m in the moment here.

“I’ve got a job to do over the next two months and that’s my sort of sole focus.

“So like past players that have gone before me have said though, there’ll be plenty of offers, but there’ll be plenty of time at the end of September to enjoy those conversations.”