Tom Hawkins responds after AFL fans call out glaring detail around Dustin Martin's retirement

Geelong star Tom Hawkins has admitted he had no qualms about announcing his retirement on the same day as Dustin Martin, after some fans felt it took the spotlight away from the Richmond legend. The AFL world was rocked by the retirements of two greats of the game on Tuesday, with both announcements coming within the space of an hour.

Martin ended months of rumours and speculation about his future in the game on Tuesday morning, announcing he is retiring with immediate effect. Rumours have been rife that the 33-year-old would join the Gold Coast Suns in 2025, but Martin revealed he's done. He bows out immediately as one of the greatest players of the modern era, winning three premierships and three Norm Smith Medals with the Richmond Tigers, along with the Brownlow Medal in 2017.

Less than an hour later, Hawkins announced he's calling time on his career at the end of the 2024 season. The 36-year-old has been sidelined with a foot injury since round 15, but is still hopeful he can make his return from injury and play a role in Geelong's push for a premiership.

Hawkins has made an incredible 359 appearances for the Cats, breaking great mate Joel Selwood's record for most games in Geelong's round-11 game against GWS in May. "Tom has been an incredible presence both on and off the field at Geelong for the past 18 years, with his ability to play consistently at an elite level, along with humility and care for his teammates, trademarks of his career," Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie said following his retirement.

"He is a generational player who will rightly be celebrated for his achievements on the field, as well as the role he has played in shaping our club into what it is today. We thank Tom, his wife Emma, and their children Arabella, Primrose and Henry for all they've given our club."

Hawkins won premierships with Geelong in 2009, 2011 and 2022 and has kicked 796 goals, the 13th most in VFL/AFL history. However, the timing of Hawkins' retirement announcement didn't sit well with some fans.

Social media was awash with claims that Hawkins and Geelong should held back the announcement so Martin could have his moment. Some labelled it "poor form" and "disrespectful", but Hawkins doesn't see it that way.

Tom Hawkins applauds Dustin Martin for legendary career

Hawkins insisted later on Tuesday it wasn't his plan to retire on the same day as Martin, but he'd already told his Geelong teammates when the news about Dusty came to light. "I'd sort of had the wheels in motion (for retirement) on the day for a bit," Hawkins said.

"But it feels somewhat, not embarrassed, but maybe it's a pleasure to share it with him because you talk about champions of the game and he is absolutely one of those. He's had an incredible career. Congratulations to Dusty and his family for what he's been able to achieve ... I was gonna say it's been fun to watch but, phew, it hasn't been fun to watch at times."

Heralded as the greatest finals player of all time, Martin is also the only player to be crowned best-on-ground in an AFL grand final three times (2017, 2019, 2020). Collingwood coach Craig McRae, a former Richmond assistant under then-coach Damien Hardwick, reflected fondly on his years with the powerful goal-kicking midfielder.

"I worked with Dusty for a number of years. What a remarkable player. What a player, huh?" McRae said. "The memories of grand-final wins and him single-handedly lifting Richmond over the lineup at the Gabba (in 2020) - that game stands out for me - but what an incredible career he had.

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"What an incredible young man too - very, very isolated, very quiet. My memories of Dusty is he'd probably have 100 words to use in the day and he probably wouldn't use them all up." Fans will have a chance to say goodbye to Martin on August 23 at the MCG.