Hawke’s homecoming: Dan Hawke returns as head coach for 2024
Dan Hawke is coming home.
The Queanbeyan Whites are thrilled to announce Hawke will return to the club as head coach for the 2024 season.
Hawke fills the void left by his brother Tim, returning to Campese Field to give back to “the club that has given me so much”.
The Whites take great pride in being led by our own - and they don’t come much more Queanbeyan than the Hawke family.
“Dad told me when I was leaving school: ‘You can either play for the Whites or you can leave the family’,” Hawke laughed.
“It’s just a community. It’s more than a club. It’s the Tuesday night schnitzels after training. It’s the place you go to and know it’s always going to make you feel at home. It’s in my blood.”
Hawke returns to Queanbeyan following a stint with Wests in the Queensland premier rugby scene - but his resume doesn’t end there.
He spent two seasons in charge of the ACT Brumbies’ Super W side from 2021-22. He was the man behind the ACT Schoolboys' national title in 2017, ending a 29-year drought with a squad boasting the likes of Whites first grade players Fred Kaihea and Brendan Jimenez.
Hawke has since steered the Whites to ACT colts premierships, coached the Australian under 18 Barbarians and coached within the Brumbies academy ranks.
Now he has his sights set on lifting the John I Dent Cup.
“The driving factor is to take over the club that has given me so much, and to have the opportunity to lead the club with first grade,” Hawke said.
“First grade is the only grade I haven’t coached in and won a grand final. I want to win a Dent, and I want to work with and hang out with my mates three times a week. That’s what’s motivating me at the moment.
“The opportunity I’ve got at the moment is to coach the boys that have been on my coaching journey. They’re still at the club, reaching their peak, and I want to be a part of that.
“That group that came through schoolboys in 2016-18, when we had lots of success at the nationals, those boys are now all capped first graders and almost Whites veterans. I want to have an opportunity with them at the first grade level.”
Hawke moves into the role after his brother Tim stepped down as head coach, having previously played an integral role in helping the Whites win the John I Dent Cup last year.
“I honestly would have loved to do it with my brother this year, but life got in the way of that, whereas now I’m in the position to come back,” Hawke said.
“My brother was a huge contributor [to the Whites’ premiership win] last year. I’m going to enjoy being mentored by my brother. I’m coming back to Queanbeyan to work with all of my mates and coach the boys that have been on my coaching journey, and also to be mentored by my brother and my best mate.”
