'More than a club': Dan Hawke comes home to coach the Queanbeyan Whites' John I Dent Cup team

He says it with a laugh, but it goes some way to explaining what the Queanbeyan Whites mean to the Hawke family.

So it's little wonder Hawke has spent almost every year since in a Whites jersey - and why he is coming home to coach the club's John I Dent Cup side in 2024.

Hawke will fill the void left by his brother Tim, returning to Queanbeyan after a stint with Wests in Queensland.

You might remember Hawke for orchestrating the ACT's first national schoolboys title win in 29 years, and the quotes that came with it: it was better than Lego, they've got more ticker than Phar Lap, we stuck together like duct tape.

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Now you wonder what kind of gold he has up his sleeve when he takes the reins for a club he says is "in my blood".

"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."

Whites officials were desperate to lure Hawke home after he spent a season in Queensland, with Tim Hawke stepping down to spend more time with his young family.

Now the younger of the pair is relishing the chance to take another head coaching role, having previously spent two years in charge of the ACT Brumbies Super W side and the Australian under 18 Barbarians.

"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. It's just a community. It's more than a club."

Hawke's return to Queanbeyan comes as the club appoints former Western Sydney Two Blues mentor Duke To'o as the Whites' women's coach for 2024.

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