EMERGING Geelong star Tom Hawkins has gone with his head and his heart in this week's episode of Personal Best.
Charged with choosing the best 10 centre half-forwards of the past 25 years, Hawkins plumped for some of the obvious names including Jonathan Brown, Wayne Carey and Dermott Brereton.
But he has also included three former Geelong players in his list - Barry Stoneham, Cam Mooney and Bill Brownless.
Hawkins lauded Stoneham - who wore No.26 for the Cats, the same number as his father, Jack - for his "super work rate" and for overcoming a badly broken leg to captain the Cats for three years.
He described Mooney as fine role model: "He was an extremely good teacher, he played very passionately for his club and I was very fortunate to be able to play with him."
Brownless grew up in Jerilderie, the southern New South Wales town just 30km from Hawkins's home in Finley.
"I always had that bit of a connection with him. My best memory of Billy is when he kicked a goal after the siren in 1994 in the qualifying final against the Bulldogs."
To see the full list and his selection as No. 1, click here.
Personal Best appears every Wednesday on AFL.com.au.
NEXT WEEK: Carlton's Andrew Walker names the best 10 spectacular marks of the last 25 years.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
