25/09/2026
A HAWKS TRAILBLAZER – BONNIE HASTINGS
Some players leave their mark on a club through the games they play and the awards they win. Others help change what’s possible for the players who come after them.
Bonnie has done both. 💛
From starting out in Year 5 in 2019 as one of just two girls, to winning a Grand Final with our Hawks Red boys in 2021, Bonnie was forging a path for female football at our club before that pathway really existed.
When she finally joined her first all-girls team in 2022, she helped convince many of the girls who now make up our U20 and Women’s teams to give footy a go too. What started with a handful of girls has grown into something pretty special – and Bonnie has been there helping drive it from the beginning.
Along the way there have been plenty of achievements – club Best & Fairest, Association Runner-Up Best & Fairest in a 14-team competition, an U20 Premiership at just 16, Most Consistent Player, representative football with East Perth Rogers Cup and plenty more.
But perhaps what says the most about Bonnie is that, despite opportunities to continue at East Perth, her heart was with the Hawks – playing with her mates and representing her hometown club. 🦅
This year she stepped up again to be part of our inaugural Hawks Women’s team, fittingly kicking the team's very first goal in its very first game, while continuing to support our U20s whenever she could.
Fearless. Fast. Tough. Humble. And the kind of player who drags her teammates along with her when the going gets hard.
Bonnie represents everything we hope the next generation of Hawks footballers will be – and there are girls across our club today who have a pathway to follow because players like Bonnie were brave enough to go first.
And who better to help us recognise her than AFLW star, and proud AMRJFC past player, Ella Roberts. Ella recorded this prior to the Girls Grand Final, and while it didn't go their way this year - they had an amazing season, a challenging one, but they held their heads high!
Have a watch. This one is pretty special!
Thank you, Bonnie – for the past eight years, for everything you've given the Hawks, and for helping pave the way for the girls coming behind you.
Once a Hawk, always a Hawk!
