Doug Hawkins

[jeemak]

If you stood all the bulldog players against a wall at lunchtime and took turns choosing sides Doug would be the first player picked.

I didn't see enough of Hawk at his peak, but from the players I did see I'd take Chris Grant any day of the week. He kicked over 550 goals having played about half his career in defence, and for mine is the most underrated player of the 90's.

With that in mind I struggle to fathom how good Hawk must have been, and how underrated he seemingly is by non-Bulldogs people.

Alas, the problem our players have post career in terms of recognition. If they had the benefit of premiership medals hanging around their necks it probably wouldn't matter to them much, even though they'd be immeasurably more revered outside our club as a result of it.

[Twodogs]

I haven't seen a better player than Doug at the Bulldogs over the course of their career but I haven't seen a Bulldog play a better season of football than KT did in 1980. Actually KT's year in 1980 was as good if not better than any other footballer I've seen.

Agree strongly. I can remember having sweeps at school to pick how many marks he'd take and goals he'd kick.

[chef]

If you stood all the bulldog players against a wall at lunchtime and took turns choosing sides Doug would be the first player picked.

I'd have him a just a smidge behind Chris.

[ledge]

I would have Hawk in front of Chris, Chris had issues at times like the yips in front of goal, Doug had no issues except a knee which didn't make an iota if difference when he returned.

[Twodogs]

I didn't see enough of Hawk at his peak, but from the players I did see I'd take Chris Grant any day of the week. He kicked over 550 goals having played about half his career in defence, and for mine is the most underrated player of the 90's.

With that in mind I struggle to fathom how good Hawk must have been, and how underrated he seemingly is by non-Bulldogs people.

Alas, the problem our players have post career in terms of recognition. If they had the benefit of premiership medals hanging around their necks it probably wouldn't matter to them much, even though they'd be immeasurably more revered outside our club as a result of it.

You should have seen Kelvin at his peak. In a career that was essentially over by the time he turned 24 he had kicked a ton and won the Brownlow. He was majestic in 1980.

[jeemak]

You should have seen Kelvin at his peak. In a career that was essentially over by the time he turned 24 he had kicked a ton and won the Brownlow. He was majestic in 1980.

He's probably the only Bulldog that leaves my old man gobsmacked. He said he was just unreal (he really loved Ted as well, and thought he was pretty much the bees knees).

I imagine him as a Franklin type, but rather than relying on getting the ball loose and burning off an opponent he could really take a grab overhead whilst being equally smart positioning wise.

[Remi Moses]

Gee still remember when KT did his knee.
It was a horrid Waverley night ( raining sideways ) in an Escort Cup game.
Getting done ,we left early( it was a school night).
Relative told me the next morning that KT did his knee, we were a mixture of being distraught and angry.

[Twodogs]

Gee still remember when KT did his knee.
It was a horrid Waverley night ( raining sideways ) in an Escort Cup game.
Getting done ,we left early( it was a school night).
Relative told me the next morning that KT did his knee, we were a mixture of being distraught and angry.

Yeah I was there too. Most frustrating thing I've ever seen. IIRC He did his knee fairly close to the end of the game which made it all the more tragic but the again that might just be my brain playing tricks on me.

[Twodogs]

He's probably the only Bulldog that leaves my old man gobsmacked. He said he was just unreal (he really loved Ted as well, and thought he was pretty much the bees knees).

I imagine him as a Franklin type, but rather than relying on getting the ball loose and burning off an opponent he could really take a grab overhead whilst being equally smart positioning wise.

Gobsmacked is the perfect word to describe the feeling you got watching him. If Lindsay had played a full career at anywhere near his exposed form*the there would be no argument about who the greatest player of all time is.




* and he had improved year after year to be the be the dominant player in the competition. Except 1979 but he played most of that year with a collapsed lung after he broke a rib and his other lung was pierced by the broken rib bone.

[westdog54]

I'll never forget a game vs St Kilda at Whitten Oval. Dougie was in the twilight of his career, playing FP. Ball comes down, he gathers and snaps a goal.

Not 2 minutes later the same thing happens at the other end, Lockett at the height of his powers gathers a loose ball and snaps a behind.

Straight away someone screams out "who the f%&# do you think you are Lockett, Doug Hawkins?"

Crowd loved it

I could have my years mixed up here but I can vaguely recall Dougie taking a massive hanger in the pocket late in that same game. I was standing just around from the old scoreboard as you continue on to Dougie's wing. I was 7 at the time so I could be wrong here.

Gobsmacked is the perfect word to describe the feeling you got watching him. If Lindsay had played a full career at anywhere near his exposed form*the there would be no argument about who the greatest player of all time is.




* and he had improved year after year to be the be the dominant player in the competition. Except 1979 but he played most of that year with a collapsed lung after he broke a rib and his other lung was pierced by the broken rib bone.

You meant to say Kelvin, not Lindsay, didn't you?

Geez I hate being born in the 80s sometimes.

[ledge]

I saw templetons first game as I did Grants and from that minute you knew they were stars, I am a couple of years younger than Doug but he was known as a star before he got to the dogs and was just a natural.Chris and Kelvin were both surprises and unexpected to me.

[Bulldog4life]

Those days the wingmen would switch sides on the ground at the end of each quarter. Malthouse decided to keep Dougie on the outer at Western Oval ie the same wing for every quarter. And so the Doug Hawkins wing was born.

Yes I remember that. Although I preferred standing between the 2 grandstands most games I stood in the Outer a number of times purely so I had a good look at Dougie.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

He's probably the only Bulldog that leaves my old man gobsmacked. He said he was just unreal (he really loved Ted as well, and thought he was pretty much the bees knees).

I imagine him as a Franklin type, but rather than relying on getting the ball loose and burning off an opponent he could really take a grab overhead whilst being equally smart positioning wise.

Templeton was really skinny originally but really developed his frame massively. He was a towering pack mark, a great contested mark. I remember him hitting packs from behind and plucking it in a pack of arms and flying bodies from behind with superior judgement and strength. He was wacked and jostled, double teamed but still could pluck the mark and had a classic kicking technique with head over the ball and a powerful kicking action.

[Twodogs]

You meant to say Kelvin, not Lindsay, didn't you?

Me and my mates that I went to the footy with (as distinct from the mates I went to school with) had a nickname for KT. We called him Lindsay because he looked a bit like a milk shop owner we knew called Lindsay.

I saw templetons first game as I did Grants and from that minute you knew they were stars, I am a couple of years younger than Doug but he was known as a star before he got to the dogs and was just a natural.Chris and Kelvin were both surprises and unexpected to me.

KT had already kicked 100 goals for Taralgon in the la Trobe Valley League the year before he came at the age of 16. The wraps on him were huge.

Chris was a bolt out of the blue though. At the Geelong rd end a skinny kid wearing #29 took a mark right on the 50 metre line where it meets the boundary line and took the shot. He goes back and slots it with his first kick in League footy. My old man said "who's this kid" and I didn't know. And I always knew who the new kids in the team were. Where they were from, what their mum's maiden name was but all I knew was what was in the footy record.

[bornadog]

Chris was a bolt out of the blue though. At the Geelong rd end a skinny kid wearing #29 took a mark right on the 50 metre line where it meets the boundary line and took the shot. He goes back and slots it with his first kick in League footy. My old man said "who's this kid" and I didn't know. And I always knew who the new kids in the team were. Where they were from, what their mum's maiden name was but all I knew was what was in the footy record.

Chris and Leon Cameron both debuted in 1990 as 17 year olds and were both sensational.