In recognition of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, we’re looking back over the wonderful contributions Indigenous players have made over the years, since Cyril Collard first pulled on the brown and gold Guernsey in 1957.
18 Indigenous players have represented the club at the highest level:
Cyril Collard (1957-58) 13 games, 3 goals
Percy Cummings (1964-65) 5 games, 1 goal
Chance Bateman (2000-12) 177 games, 67 goals
Mark Williams (2002-09) 111 games, 242 goals
Harry Miller (2005-06) 18 games, 13 goals
Lance Franklin (2005-13) 182 games, 580 goals
Cameron Stokes (2008-10) 20 games, 8 goals
Cyril Rioli (2008-2018) 189 games, 275 goals
Rhan Hooper (2010) 6 games, 7 goals
Carl Peterson (2010) 17 games, 13 goals
Shaun Burgoyne (2010-present) 238 games, 130 goals
Brad Hill (2012-16) 95 games, 58 goals
Jed Anderson (2013-15) 10 games, 4 goals
Derick Wanganeen (2014) 1 game, 0 goals
Kieran Lovell (2016-2018) 2 games, 0 goals
Jarman Impey (2018-present) 56 games, 21 goals
Chad Wingard (2019-present) 38 games, 34 goals
Tyler Brockman (2021-present) 4 games, 6 goals
Ball on a string: Mitchell earns MVP nod
In total, Indigenous players have played 1,182 games and kicked 1,462 goals for Hawthorn.
Cyril Collard was the first Indigenous player to play for Hawks. He debuted in Round one, 1957 and kicked a goal on debut.
Six of the 18 Hawthorn Indigenous players (Bateman, Williams, Franklin, Rioli, Burgoyne and Hill) have won at least one premiership medal.
Lance Franklin has been awarded the most Brownlow votes by an Indigenous player playing in the brown and gold, with 82 votes. He heads Rioli (44), Burgoyne (36), Bateman (30), Williams (11) and Brad Hill (6).
Round 12, 2003 was the first time an Indigenous Hawk was awarded Brownlow votes when Chance Bateman was awarded two votes for his 21-possession performance in a win over Collingwood.
Shaun Burgoyne (395 games) leads Adam Goodes (372) and Andrew McLeod (340) with the most games played by an Indigenous player in the history of the game.
In 2015, Cyril Rioli became one of only five Indigenous players to have won a Norm Smith Medal, and the first Hawk.
In 2008, when Lance Franklin won the Coleman Medal while playing for Hawthorn, he became the first player of Aboriginal descent to win the Medal. 13 years on, he remains the only Indigenous player to have achieved this feat.
Currently sitting on 963 career goals, Franklin has kicked more goals than any Indigenous player in the history of the game. His 580 goals for Hawthorn alone is enough to land him in the top 35 of all-time goal kickers.
