Star Cats spearhead Tom Hawkins has disclosed he has never had the thought about leaving Geelong for another club.
The club legend has played 325 games for the Cats, kicking a total of 725 goals whilst collecting two premierships along the way.
But after 16 years in the system, the key-forward revealed he has not once considered leaving the Pivot City, stating that winning and family come first and money second.
โIโm not across the salary cap and to elaborate on that in terms of what players are on, I obviously hear whatโs speculated through the media." Hawkins toldย Sportsday.
โBut talking through my position, I love my environment that Iโm in, I love the people that I work with, theyโve got a really good understanding of me, I just feel really comfortable.
โTo move clubs is a matter of picking up my family in my situation and moving away.
โItโs probably just something that hasnโt interested me as Iโve spoken to my wife about it over the journey.
Whilst family comes before money for Hawkins, the constant winning mentality at the club since he arrived also plays a big part in making his career decisions easy.
โUltimately winning helps,โ Hawkins said.
โWe get put in a position each year to be able to compete and itโs a wonderful thing being able to go into your work environment knowing that youโve got every chance to succeed.
โIโve had that throughout my whole career, and itโs probably been one of the key reasons why Iโve been able to play for so long.
โWeโre completely removed from the ins and outs, let me be clear on that, with whatโs going on with our salary cap.
โI just love my environment, that keeps me and my family happy.โ
It's been widely reported that Hawkins is taking a massive pay-cut to be at the club next season, earning within the region of $300-400k for the year.
Hawkins and the Cats take on Brisbane this Friday night at the MCG for a spot in the grand final, with the first bounce at 7:50pm (AEST).
