George Hawkins | |||
---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||
Date of birth | 7 December 1908 | ||
Place of birth | Brunswick, Victoria | ||
Date of death | 20 July 1979 | (aged 70)||
Place of death | Chiltern, Victoria | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1932–1946 | Prahran | 151 (657) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1947. |
George William Hawkins (7 December 1908 – 20 July 1979) [1] was an Australian rules footballer who played with Prahran in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).
Hawkins was a full-forward and centre half-forward for Prahran during the 1930s. He began his senior career in 1932, and became a prolific goalkicker during the era. He scored his first century of goals in the 1934 season, kicking 107 goals. [2] He was a premiership player with Prahran in 1937, and kicked six goals in that season's Grand Final. [3] In 1939, Hawkins kicked a new Association record of 164 goals and was the VFA leading goalkicker for the only time in his career; his record surpassed Western Australian George Doig's national senior record of 152 goals, although Hawkins' claim to the record was disputed because the VFA, having introduced the throw-pass rule in 1938, was no longer considered to be playing the national code. [4]
Hawkins retired during the 1940 season due to ongoing difficulties with an ankle injury; at this stage, he had a career total of 596 goals. [5] But, he returned to play in September that same year, [6] and was still with the club in 1946, leading the club as captain its Association rules exhibition match in Broken Hill following that season. [7] After he retired altogether, he had played a total of 151 games and kicked 657 goals for Prahran. [8]
Hawkins also played cricket in summer during his career. He played one first-class match for Victoria against Tasmania in Launceston in 1933/34, [1] and played 59 district cricket matches for the Prahran Cricket Club.