The hype about Tom Hawkins has been bigger than his powerhouse 100kg frame.

But until now, the output from the 20-year-old son of Geelong great "Jumping" Jack Hawkins has been mostly short of the massive expectations heaped on him from outside the club.

Which is why Cats coach Mark Thompson was so pleased with his breakthrough performance in Sunday's 93-point drubbing of Geelong.

Three goals, seven marks and 20 possessions don't go close to telling the full story.

A career-high nine tackles thrilled the coaching panel.

Not to mention the undeniable presence he and senior partner Cameron Mooney exerted all day against the harried Brisbane defence.

"Mooney and Hawkins were both fantastic," said Thompson.

"Both looked like they had energy, they were alive and they had a good understanding.

"We would love for Hawk to play like that every week because he really looked like a comfortable, accomplished AFL player today.

"I thought it was clearly the best game he has played.

"I know he's kicked more goals and everything else in some games.

"But he was just involved in the game."

Hawkins agreed with Thompson that it was the best of his 23 AFL games since being recruited by the club as a father-son selection in the 2006 draft.

"They were trying conditions and a bit tough but we played well as a team and defensively we were great," said Hawkins.

"That was the goal, to really knuckle down and apply a lot of pressure to them when they were rebounding out of our forward 50.

"I felt good out there, I got involved a lot more in the play and that's what I've been trying to do.

"And also working on not just being a mark and lead sort of player.

"I was happy with the game and I'll take a fair bit of confidence out of it."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP