It has been 14 years since Tom Hawkins tore apart the 2011 Grand Final and announced himself to the competition, now the heir apparent has the same opportunity to etch his name into Geelong folklore. 

Shannon Neale bided his time and developed at VFL level over his first three years at Geelong, earning a consistent chance with the Cats AFL team last year and never looking back. 

With a strong set of hands and a reliable set-shot routine, Neale showed plenty of his potential across the 2025 season, including a pair of five-goal hauls against the Western Bulldogs and GWS, and also earned his first Brownlow votes with a tremendous outing against Sydney in Round 23. 

He was touted as the "next Tom Hawkins" and the two continue to share a special bond even after the champion Cats' retirement last year, but Neale has certainly flourished on his own unique journey, standing at 203cm with incredible athletic prowess. 

Neale said he still remains in touch with the Tomahawk, looking to make the most of his opportunity on Saturday afternoon in the biggest game of his career. 

"He messaged me the other night and in true fashion, he never got back to me but that's alright," Neale joked during his press conference.

"It is good to hear from him, he is someone that is almost like a fatherly figure here at Geelong. As I messaged him, I said that I just want to make him proud.

"People sort of refer to me as the next Tom Hawkins, I try to not buy into that too much because I am my own player and my own person.

"But certainly there is a part of me that wants to uphold the history that is there, I just want to make him proud and the club proud."

Neale will renew a fascinating battle this weekend with the big Cat likely to match up on star Brisbane defender, Harris Andrews once again on Saturday afternoon. 

The pair have gone toe-to-toe in recent contests between the two teams, with both players having a number of standout moments in the Qualifying Final three weeks ago. 

Neale spoke about the matchup during his press conference, noting that he relishes the chance to play against some of the competition's best defenders. 

"I certainly think that he is always playing well. He is a magnificent defender, he reads the ball so well, he is really good at intercepting it, he has got long arms and he is strong," Neale said. 

"I think when we played them down here about mid year, he had a really good outing and I sort of walked away and thought yeah, I probably could have done a bit better at times. I do that every game, but that game was one where it was fair to say that I was disappointed with myself and how I performed.

"In the Qualifying Final, I tried not to get too anxious about it and not overthink that he has got the better of me, all those thoughts that you can have naturally as a young player.

"I think I flipped the script a bit, I am excited to play on those big names."

It is a far different build up this time around than it was in 2022 for Neale, who was on the fringes of Geelong's AFL team and sat in the stands to watch the Cats most recent premiership triumph. 

With plenty of development under his belt and a permanent spot in Geelong's forward 50, Neale said he has worked hard to put himself in this position and is looking forward to competing on the biggest stage of all. 

"I would like to think that I have matured since then, I have certainly developed in the things that I have worked hard at," Neale said. 

"Regardless of that, I would like to think that I am playing my role for the team, that I can put my best foot forward every week and put us in a great spot to achieve success. If there is one week to do it, it is going to be this week.

"Life is pretty similar, Mum and Dad come over as regularly as they can, all that off field stuff is pretty similar. I try to keep my life as consistent as possible, hopefully that translates on field.

"It is good to have a different perspective this week than 2022 Grand Final week, I knew I wasn't going to play.

"We had those fringe players back then, I sort of knew I wasn't going to play so it was good to enjoy the week as an AFL listed player, but this week it is good to experience it with the opportunity to play."