The Hawk Cast

With 2022 upon us, we took the chance to sit down with Club Coach Jack Lickiss and Senior Vice-President Shawn Riddell to review a positive first half of the season for the Hawks. Jack and Shawn pick a standout and breakout player for each team as we look ahead to getting back into the swing of things this week

The ability for Girls to take up the game of cricket in a safe and fun environment has been a key focus of the Hawks for a number of years and the program has grown from strength to strength. We talk to some champions of that program in Zoe and Lucy who share what it is they love about cricket, the Hawks and Blue Waffles! We also chat to their dedicated parents, Aron and Jeanette, who speak to what they think is important in a Sports club as well as some of their favourite memories of watching the girls.

Jeff Pfaff has been a key figure in Gold Coast cricket circles for decades, and The Hawk Cast was lucky enough to sit down and chat with him. Jeff was a prolific runscorer for the Hawks in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, was a foundation player at the Gold Coast Dolphins and later became president of the GC's district club. Along the journey, he's got to know who's who in the zoo, and has even been pivotal in efforts to get the Gold Coast a Big Bash League franchise of its own. Tune in for a great listen – including some golden stories about a few names on the Hawks honour board perhaps not so familiar with the modern generation!

Craig Webber has been a prolific run-scorer at the Hawks for half a decade now, as well as filling roles such as 5th grade captain and manager for his son Hamish's junior team. Get to know the great man a little better, from his country beginnings to a time abroad on the Isle of Wight and what's next on his radar.

In this episode of The Hawk Cast we speak to the man who some have labelled, 'The World's Most Interesting Hawk.' Jason Churchill certainly lives up to that title. Churchy chats through his vast life experiences, including stories of playing Junior Cricket with Andrew Symonds and Matthew Mott, lessons he has learned from a successful business career and the origin of those spectacular jackets. All of that, plus his favourite experiences as a Hawk!

They're two Hawks legends and they just so happen to be a father-son duo. The Snowys are coming off a sensational 2020/21 season in which Mark captained 5th Grade Gold to within a whisker of finals, and Nathan chalked up 30 senior wickets all before his 15th birthday. Find out a little more about them both on and off the field, what that special season together meant, and what's next in their sights – all in Episode 24 of The Hawk Cast.

He may have only been around for a season, but Jake Grove has already made an impact on and off the field. The hard-hitting opening batsmen shares on the Hawk Cast about his experiences growing up in Sydney, his career in representative Rugby and his exploits in the wrestling ring.

He's relatively new to the club but by his own admission is already part of the furniture. It was a big first season at the Hawks for Jamie Miller now get to know him a little better. Ever the entertainer, Jamie tells The Hawk Cast about his late start to cricket, how it took four months to relearn how to walk following an injury, and the lessons he learned from an important personal journey he went through.

We kick off Season 2 by looking back at the summer of 2020-21 to unpack the highs and lows with Club President David O'Donnell and Coach Jack Lickiss. The guys look at the on field successes of the Hawks as well as the many great highlights off the field!

We have saved a fantastic guest for the final episode of Season 1 of The Hawk Cast. Everyone knows that Dave 'Mud' O'Donnell does not mind a chat and the passion he has for the Hawks is unparalleled. However, as always, there is plenty you might not know about our current president including his time spent overseas, the struggles he had as a young cricket player and even his previous stint as a club president. Thanks so much for listening this Season and we hope you enjoy Episode 20!

For a young bloke, Shawn Riddell has become quite the Hawks stalwart. A maiden-bowling machine and long-time executive committee member, we dive a little deeper into what makes 'Kimmy K' tick and what's next for him and the club. We also get the downlow on which Hawks he's lived with are the neat freaks and who are the grubs

Anyone who has ever had anything to do with this week's guest knows what an exceptional young man he is. James ‘The Rig' Guthrig chats to us about his cricket journey so far with the Hawks; which includes premiership wins, representative team triumphs and even playing 2nd XI Cricket, all before his 15th Birthday.

He's a proven veteran on the field and a popular figure in the clubhouse but there's plenty more cracking stories still to be told about the Big Man – Dean Croft. Crofty takes us through his Victorian career that included a fruitful stint as captain-coach and even three years dabbling on umpiring, plus the ups and downs of the move north and the successes he's already cherished at the Hawks.

Can you imagine jumping on a plane and travelling to the otherside of the world to play cricket with a club you have only read about on the internet? Well that is the story of our guest today, Richard 'Dicky' Sen. We chat to Dicky about his experiences playing cricket for the Hawks and how he managed to find positives in a difficult season on the field.

Two weeks ago, we heard from the president who saved the club in the mid-2000s. Now it's time for his protege and successor, life member Conrad Dickson. A free-flowing opening bat on the field and a hard-working visionary off it, Conrad has plenty of remarkable stories to share that we hope you enjoy.

There have been plenty of big personalities involved with the Hawks over the years but not many come bigger than Dylan 'The Package' Sherriff. Dylan takes us through some memories of his early days at the Hawks before getting honest about the challenges he faced as club coach and his reasons for ultimately seeking a fresh start. Tune in for one of the most sincere and candid chats we have had yet on The Hawk Cast.

Who could have known that a neighbour walking his dog could forever change the Hawks' destiny? Life Member and ex-president Ian Wade-Parker downplays his status as the club's saviour... but we'll let you be the judge of that. IWP revisits how and why he became involved in the club in the mid-2000s and the plans his committee put in place to get the Hawks firmly on the right track.

Always the storyteller on a Saturday night at the clubhouse, Matt Steley has quite the story himself; beginning as a chef living out of home at 15 to now running his own highly successful Personal Training business. His approach to life is the same as his approach to cricket, tackle it with freedom, fun and resilience. Steley shares with us the highs and lows of life and cricket with plenty of entertaining stories along the way.

An instant cult hero - Josh Whybird has not been involved with the Hawks long, but there is no doubt he is one of the greats. His absolute love for cricket, combined with his hard working and persistent attitude as well as ability to never take himself too seriously has made Whybird a fantastic clubman. We chat about how Josh got involved with the Hawks, his rise up the grades and some great war stories from 6th Grade.

Many of us will know Bakes from his countless years of umpiring and scoring cricket on the Gold Coast as well as his quick wit and evergreen zingers. Not many though, would know that he had a playing career of his own before he began umpiring or that he was present when Shane Warne bowled his ‘Ball of the Century' to castle Mike Gatting. These are just some of the many stories that we dig into on this episode of The Hawk Cast with the one, the only – Paul Baker.

Simon Vander Kruik is a truly fascinating bloke. A Health Care Worker, a former professional golfer and a late-blooming gun cricketer. For the Hawks, SVK has scored a ton, taken remarkable figures of 9/8 and 8/4 and was recently named in our Team of the Decade. Find out a little more about the great man before his planned playing return in 2020/21. There's even a few stories to be heard about cult heroes including The Wizard!

Kaleb Day has become one of the premier batsmen in the Cricket Gold Coast competition over the past couple of years - but it hasn't always been so easy. 'K' talks us through his battle to get the best out of himself, that breakthrough ton, and some absolute gold from his adventures over the years with long-time best mate Jack Baird.

This episode of The Hawk Cast is a special one: Not only are we joined by up-and-coming fast bowler Mitch Parkes, we also hear a different perspective from his parents Kirsten and Brian. Mitch, Kirsten and Brian talk us through some highlights of his career to date including taking nine wickets to lead the U15s to a rare outright win and transitioning into senior cricket

A longer one this week but settle yourself in for 50mins of premium Josh Mitchell stories! Anyone who has met JM or read his Facebook posts will know he is a master storyteller and he treats us to some of his favourites on this episode. From how he joined the Hawks as a 14-year-old playing 3rd Grade to his time as President and even the origin of the Wahoo's Fish Tacos stickers!

Long time Hawks player, coach and Life Member Paul Baird joins us on this episode! Bairdy takes us through his life and cricket journey from Melbourne (featuring a certain legendary leggie) to New Zealand to the Hawks. Listen on for plenty of great stories from on and off the field!

The Hawks have many great families and on this episode we speak with not one, not two but three of the Jorgensens: Mitch, Kye and Beau. All three had terrific seasons in 2019/20, each winning a Player of the Year award. But there's plenty more stories to be told... and of course, we find out who really is the GJOAT (Greatest Jorgensen of All Time).

On this episode of The Hawk Cast we speak to one of the longest serving active 1st Grade captains on the Gold Coast - Jack Lickiss. We cover the highs and lows of his time at the Hawks including how he joined the club just days before the season started in 2015/16, leading the team to a 1st Grade final and of course, the infamous 99.

As the Hawks approach 40th anniversary celebrations, we speak to the one person who has been a constant for the past two decades. Brett Burke has carried countless bowling attacks over the years, taking a club-high 417 wickets… and he's not done yet. ‘Burkey' opens up on the highs and lows he's experienced, from two particularly special wins to the roles he and wife Suzi played in rescuing the club from a dire state in the mid-2000s, and, of course, what it meant to notch his 100th first grade game last summer.

The time has come: Episode 1 is live! We speak to run machine Ben Daley on the back of his second premiership-winning season as a Hawks captain and find out more about how he joined the club and his goals for next summer.

Welcome to the Hawk Cast! Listen for a preview of this exciting new venture and a sneak peak of Episode 1 coming soon!