The 'skinny little rake' Matt Hawke set to make Gungahlin Eagles history in the John I Dent Cup

Or you could start 199 John I Dent cup games ago, when Hawke was an 18-year-old fresh out of Daramalan College thrown into first grade rugby.

"Mate, I was a skinny little rake," Hawke said.

Now Hawke will play his 200th first grade game when the Eagles face the Queanbeyan Whites at Campese Field on Saturday.

Hawke has won a World Club Sevens title with the Brumbies and played abroad with London Scottish. One thing that has eluded him is the John I Dent Cup, a title he has chased for almost two decades.

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"Peter O'Neill was my first first grade coach at Gungahlin. He's a club legend," Hawke said.

"He was the one that got me to the club, I was always going to the club going through Dara, but he had a big impact on me in the early years.

"My first start was at fullback, but then the next year I played on the wing. I slowly progressed into 12, and they've thrown me everywhere now."

Even at flanker, when former coach Marco Caputo thought he was a man short in the back-row.

You could have put him at tighthead prop if you wanted - Hawke didn't care which number he was wearing, as long as he was in the XV.

"I didn't mind it, I like the physical stuff. I didn't mind it, made my tackles and carried hard, and that's all I had to do," Hawke said.

"I didn't have to think about being fast, and now I'm getting a bit older and Locky [McCaffrey] has got me back at 12, so I have to do a job there."

McCaffrey has stepped into the first grade coaching role at Gungahlin this year. His right hand man is a bloke who played 103 Tests for the Wallabies.

So while Hawke has been around long enough to play 199 top grade games, rest assured his ears prick up every time Matt Giteau has something to say at Eagles training.

"He just sits back and watches everything unfold and then pulls you aside. Everything he says is gospel, you've just got to go with it. There's no questioning it," Hawke said.

"It's unreal. [McCaffrey] and Gits, just their presence is massive. The biggest attribute for Locky is he's a people person. That's a massive thing for a coach.

"It's going to be a tough ask out there at Campese. It's never easy, even when they're not the reigning champions. We know it's going to be a tough battle and it's probably going to go down to the 80th minute."

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