EYEBROWS were raised following the announcement of the All-Australian captaincy, with Geelong\u2019s Tom Hawkins getting the nod.<\/p>\n
This is despite the selected 22 containing four current club captains in Carlton\u2019s Patrick Cripps, Melbourne\u2019s Max Gawn, Gold Coast\u2019s Touk Miller and Sydney\u2019s Callum Mills.<\/p>\n
The selectors have set a precedent for this, with the likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Lance Franklin and Alex Rance named AA skipper in recent years.<\/p>\n
Kane Cornes, who is on the selection panel, felt the Geelong veteran was the clear choice.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Selecting the captain] is sort of the last thing that you did, and I was pretty strong on the fact that Tom Hawkins should be the captain of the team,\u201d Cornes told SEN SA Breakfast<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially it was basically unanimous, I think most people in the room were in agreeance that Tom Hawkins, with his fifth All-Australian blazer, the selfless team-first role that he has played for such a long period of time, I think his ability to sense moments in games and produce under pressure like a great captain does, I thought that gave him a real advantage in being named captain of this team.<\/p>\n \u201cMax Gawn has been captain of the All-Australian team before and is also an outstanding leader, Touk Miller was in the conversation, Patrick Cripps, I mean, those two players\u2019 sides didn\u2019t make the finals so you look at that.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think there would be any controversy or criticism over Tom Hawkins being captain, I almost thought he was the obvious choice.<\/p>\n \u201cLance Franklin has captained this team before, he hasn\u2019t been captain of this team, Patrick Dangerfield has captained this team before, he\u2019s never been a captain of his team, so just because you\u2019re not a captain of your side doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t captain the All-Australian team.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m thrilled for Tom Hawkins. I think it\u2019s such a well-deserved honour.\u201d<\/p>\n Hawkins and the Cats will be preparing for their qualifying final clash with Collingwood following the bye.<\/p>\n \n