27 Facts About Garry Hocking

Garry Andrew Hocking was born on 8 October 1968 and is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Tough and skilled in equal measure, Hocking was an integral part of Geelong's midfield who was recognised at both club and League level as one of the finest players of the 1990s, winning club best and fairests, All-Australian honours and finishing top three in the Brownlow Medal vote count on four occasions.

Recognisable on the field with his curly brown mullet hairstyle and nicknamed "Buddha", Garry Hocking was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008, and was named in Geelong's Team of the Century and Hall of Fame.

Since retiring from playing, Garry Hocking has coached at various clubs.

Garry Hocking coached Port Adelaide in the 2012 AFL season for four games after Matthew Primus was sacked.

Garry Hocking has been head coach of Peel Thunder, the Port Adelaide SANFL side, South Adelaide, and the Collingwood VFL side.

Les worked as a hairdresser at 'Plugger' Bourke's barber shop, and young Garry Hocking served an apprenticeship with him before moving to Geelong.

Garry Hocking made his senior VFL debut in the 1987 round 3 match against Melbourne at Kardinia Park, wearing the number 51.

Garry Hocking became one of a special group of footballers by scoring a goal on debut with his first kick, but otherwise had a quiet match with seven touches.

Garry Hocking represented Victoria on numerous occasions in the State of Origin series and played in four losing Grand Final sides.

Garry Hocking was considered unlucky not to win the Brownlow Medal, due to his many close finishes, finishing amongst the top three vote-getters on four occasions, although twice as an ineligible player.

Brian Cook was recruited from West Coast as chief executive officer, and Garry Hocking was named stand-in captain after newly appointed captain Leigh Colbert injured his knee in a pre-season match against the Brisbane Lions.

Garry Hocking agreed to the offer and changed his name by deed poll to "Whiskas" for one week.

Geelong ended up losing the upcoming match against Richmond, and Garry Hocking was off the field injured by three-quarter time, but the financial incentive, which has to date not been publicly disclosed, went some way to helping the club's financial situation.

Garry Hocking retired at the end of the 2001 AFL season after playing 274 games, which at the time was the third-highest number of games for Geelong.

Garry Hocking was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame on 8 March 2008.

In one match, Garry Hocking employed a tactic where every player on the Peel team was stationed in defence for a centre-bounce.

Garry Hocking since promised never to use the tactic again, and has said that in this one instance, it was appropriate for the circumstance.

In 2006, Garry Hocking was the coach for the Geelong Falcons under-18s side.

At the time of his appointment, Garry Hocking felt unsure whether he wanted to continue as senior coach for the following season, and declared that while he had limited time to work with, he promised to foster an uncompromising attitude in the playing group:.

Garry Hocking then decided against applying for the full-time role as senior coach of Port Adelaide at the end of the 2012 season, on 4 September 2012 and was replaced by Ken Hinkley as Port Adelaide Football Club senior coach.

On 4 October 2013, Garry Hocking was announced as the SANFL senior coach of Port Adelaide, a position he held in 2014 and 2015 before returning to be an assistant coach at Port Adelaide's AFL squad.

Garry Hocking left Port Adelaide at the end of the 2016 season.

In 2017, Garry Hocking was appointed senior coach of the South Adelaide Football Club in the SANFL for 2 years.

Garry Hocking was appointed senior coach of the club's VFL side ahead of the 2020 season, which was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, Garry Hocking started coaching at Leopold Football Club in the Geelong Football League.

Garry Hocking announced his retirement from coaching following Leopold's win in the 2024 GFL grand final after leading the club to back-to-back premierships.