Douglas James Hawkins (born 5 May 1960) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who represented and in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He also enjoyed a brief career in media and ran for the Senate, as a member of

Palmer United Party The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is an Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party was deregistered by ...

, in the

2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Coalition (Australia), Liberal/National Coalition Opposition (Australia), opposition led by ...

Early career

Hawkins hailed from the industrialised, working class western suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and although he was a

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

supporter in his youth, competition zoning rules in effect prior to the adoption of a national draft, dictated that Hawkins' rights were 'zoned' to , given his suburb of residence was nearby Braybrook. He got his wish, making his VFL debut for Footscray in 1978 as a teenager.

Football career

Footscray

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 Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquart ...

, 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 The Charles Sutton Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged best and fairest for the Western Bulldogs throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League season. The medal is named a ...

, 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.

Captaincy

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 Edward James Whitten Sr. Order of Australia, OAM (27 July 1933 – 17 August 1995) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL). Bo ...

's long-standing club record of 321 for Footscray, and Whitten was on hand to congratulate him.

Fitzroy

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.

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 18 , , 11 , , 7 , , 157 , , 84 , , 241 , , 65 , , , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 8.7 , , 4.7 , , 13.4 , , 3.6 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 17 , , 13 , , 279 , , 106 , , 385 , , 64 , , , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 12.7 , , 4.8 , , 17.5 , , 2.9 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 12 , , 5 , , 7 , , 138 , , 81 , , 219 , , 38 , , , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 11.5 , , 6.8 , , 18.3 , , 3.2 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 21 , , 12 , , 11 , , 219 , , 189 , , 408 , , 73 , , , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 10.4 , , 9.0 , , 19.4 , , 3.5 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 16 , , 5 , , 5 , , 198 , , 132 , , 330 , , 48 , , , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 12.4 , , 8.3 , , 20.6 , , 3.0 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 19 , , 6 , , 6 , , 254 , , 179 , , 433 , , 74 , , , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 13.4 , , 9.4 , , 22.8 , , 3.9 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 9 , , 13 , , 290 , , 156 , , 446 , , 99 , , , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 13.2 , , 7.1 , , 20.3 , , 4.5 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 7 , , 8 , , 349 , , 182 , , 531 , , 172 , , , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 14.5 , , 7.6 , , 22.1 , , 7.2 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 16 , , 2 , , 4 , , 198 , , 98 , , 296 , , 92 , , , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 12.4 , , 6.1 , , 18.5 , , 5.8 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 12 , , 6 , , 2 , , 144 , , 90 , , 234 , , 72 , , 8 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 12.0 , , 7.5 , , 19.5 , , 6.0 , , 0.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 20 , , 7 , , 3 , , 198 , , 161 , , 359 , , 90 , , 22 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 9.9 , , 8.1 , , 18.0 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 20 , , 8 , , 4 , , 266 , , 206 , , 472 , , 127 , , 33 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 13.3 , , 10.3 , , 23.6 , , 6.4 , , 1.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 21 , , 28 , , 12 , , 248 , , 145 , , 393 , , 101 , , 16 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 11.8 , , 6.9 , , 18.7 , , 4.8 , , 0.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 38 , , 33 , , 248 , , 119 , , 367 , , 116 , , 20 , , 1.7 , , 1.5 , , 11.3 , , 5.4 , , 16.7 , , 5.3 , , 0.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 23 , , 42 , , 22 , , 254 , , 155 , , 409 , , 123 , , 26 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 11.0 , , 6.7 , , 17.8 , , 5.3 , , 1.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 20 , , 6 , , 11 , , 200 , , 156 , , 356 , , 88 , , 21 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 10.0 , , 7.8 , , 17.8 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 21 , , 7 , , 8 , , 143 , , 88 , , 231 , , 53 , , 23 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 6.8 , , 4.2 , , 11.0 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 21 , , 11 , , 3 , , 180 , , 162 , , 342 , , 68 , , 32 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 8.6 , , 7.7 , , 16.3 , , 3.2 , , 1.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 350 ! 227 ! 172 ! 3963 ! 2489 ! 6452 ! 1563 ! 201 ! 0.6 ! 0.5 ! 11.3 ! 7.1 ! 18.4 ! 4.5 ! 1.1

Accolades and Honours

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. After retiring, Hawkins was awarded Father of the Year in 1998 and was one of the torch bearers for the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. 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 The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

. In 2010, he was inducted into the Western Bulldogs Hall of Fame before being upgraded to Club Legend status in 2014.

Media career

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 Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

's '' The Footy Show'' during the mid-1990s, he was often portrayed as the show's

court jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

. In 1998, Hawkins moved to the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

and appeared on a Wednesday night rival to ''The Footy Show'', '' Live and Kicking''.

Politics

Hawkins stood as a candidate for a Victorian Senate seat in the

2013 Australian Federal Election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Coalition (Australia), Liberal/National Coalition Opposition (Australia), opposition led by ...

as a member of

Personal life

Hawkins is married to Raelene, who appeared on

Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Australia operated out of its Melbou ...

'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 Bacchus Marsh ( Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is a town in Victoria, Australia, located approximately north-west of the state capital Melbourne, at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong. As of the ...

and has served as a coach of the Bacchus Marsh Football Club.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
AFL: Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Doug Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules football commentators Australian television personalities 1960 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Fitzroy Football Club players Charles Sutton Medal winners People from Bacchus Marsh United Australia Party (2013) politicians Braybrook Football Club players Victorian State of Origin players People from Braybrook, Victoria