Tommy H article

[catempire]

Cheer up. Check this out...

Cats' new 'Judd
06 August 2006
Sunday Herald Sun
Jon Ralph

GEELONG'S newest father-son recruit, Tom Hawkins, has been described as the best young talent since Chris Judd, as the club looks towards next year.

A loss today to the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba would see the Cats out of the finals race with attention turning to any potential changes to be made for next season.

The best player in the recent national carnival in Melbourne, Hawkins needs to appoint a manager before he signs with Geelong, but that decision is expected as early as next week.

The son of former Cat Jack Hawkins has a verbal agreement to join the club next year, with Geelong to use a third-round pick to take a player who could have gone at No. 1 in the draft.

Vic Metro coach David Dickson, who also coached Judd, said yesterday it was Hawkins's potential for improvement as much as his level of talent that was so exciting for the Cats.

"Tommy Hawkins, pound for pound, is the best footballer I have seen since Chris Judd came through," he said.

"He is just outstanding in all ways. You don't just look at him dominating against kids and think he won't do it against men. That's crap.

"Even coaching him, he is just so willing to learn and improve. He just kept on stepping up and getting better. He just wants to improve. He's just such a great kid to coach. He's another one that's going to be a great player."

After playing at Melbourne Grammar this year, Hawkins entered the Vic Metro squad as a fringe player, but kicked 9.8 and took 25 marks in Vic Metro's championship win.

"He's got everything. He's got awareness, he's got sharpness, he's got strength, he's quick off mark and, in an AFL club, he's just going to get better and better," Dickson said.

While a player yet to be drafted has seldom been surrounded by so much hype, Hawkins is seen as an excellent young talent with a level head equipped to deal with the trappings of fame.

Meanwhile, Dickson has warned clubs looking to jettison first-round picks for recycled players.

Dickson said the likes of Jason Akermanis, Michael Gardiner and possibly Nick Davis would have clubs tempted to give away first-round picks, but he said there were ready-made players available in this year's batch.

"Where the AFL clubs this year are lucky is it's the richness across the board for what they want," he said.

"They can pick ruckmen, they can pick key position players, midfielders. It's just got it all this year.

"The kids are developing much quicker and stepping up into AFL ranks a lot earlier these days.

"It's really up to the clubs, but you only need to have a look at our captain last year in Marc Murphy -- he has come into AFL footy and treated it like he was playing it every day of the week and is just a natural at it."

 

[Lunchlady Doris]

Now have a read of THIS article

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,20022159%255E19766,00.html

Jesus, talk about sticking the boot in! This guy Gerard Daffy, with lots of help from Jon Anderson (isn't this guy a cats supporter?) really let's rip, even hoping that the cats actually manage to stay in the competition!

 

[Mr Sensitive]

The way things are going, by April next year, everyone will be expecting Hawkins to win the Brownlow, the Norm Smith and solve the Middle East Crisis in his first season...

 

[jess_555]

That article makes me smile.
Go Tommy!
So much pressure on the poor kid, but someone has to save the team! lol

 

[FatCat]

Quite possible this kid will carry more expectation than the Ablett brothers. That's a lot of pressure.

 

[finrod]

Who knows, maybe all the presssure on Tom H will take some of it off N Ablett...

 

[cats2rise]

I thought this was gonna be on tom harley!

 

[GeeCat]

The way things are going, by April next year, everyone will be expecting Hawkins to win the Brownlow, the Norm Smith and solve the Middle East Crisis in his first season...

Yeah, that's a worry. Really hope he has the shoulders to carry the exceptional expectations (from all accounts, he's got the level head though).

Don't tend to read too much into Dickson's comments; far too enamored with his own crop to carry any real value of opinion for mine.

 

[Unwritten_Law]

Who knows, maybe all the presssure on Tom H will take some of it off N Ablett...

Aside from the Geelong crowd cheering a little louder for Nathan's first few AFL goals is the pressure really all it is cracked up to be?

I've been to Geelong about half a dozen times in my life so I'm withdrawn from the so called fishbowl but aside from the odd person on here and cats claw calling for his inclusion every single week, even after getting towelled up by Nick Stone in the magoos, I think the vast majority of fans are willing to let him now develop in the VFL without a heap of fanfare.

Same difference with Ottens - most are happy with his contribution and don't expect 5 goals and 20 hit outs a game.

I'm sure after an intial euphoria Tommy H will be no different. It will be easier settling into Geelong than a complete rabble with the no #1 pick stigma over his head. At least F/S the expectation is generally limited to our own set of fans.

No #1 picks get **** cained by the general football community if they don't have a Judd like output immediately.

 

[bashar]

Aside from the Geelong crowd cheering a little louder for Nathan's first few AFL goals is the pressure really all it is cracked up to be?

I've been to Geelong about half a dozen times in my life so I'm withdrawn from the so called fishbowl but aside from the odd person on here and cats claw calling for his inclusion every single week, even after getting towelled up by Nick Stone in the magoos, I think the vast majority of fans are willing to let him now develop in the VFL without a heap of fanfare.

Same difference with Ottens - most are happy with his contribution and don't expect 5 goals and 20 hit outs a game.

I'm sure after an intial euphoria Tommy H will be no different. It will be easier settling into Geelong than a complete rabble with the no #1 pick stigma over his head. At least F/S the expectation is generally limited to our own set of fans.

No #1 picks get **** cained by the general football community if they don't have a Judd like output immediately.

couldnt agree more mate...no different from being a number 1 pick except we will call him the saviour for abit hehe