Local legends Vin Doolan and Norm Hawking were inducted into the Ovens and Murray Hall of Fame at the annual Hall of Fame Dinner, held last week, for their exemplary contributions to local football.

Their footy resumes are impressive, to say the least, leaving little to be achieved between the high-flying pair who pulled on their jumpers for Rutherglen in the ‘40s (Norm) and the ‘70s and ‘80s (Vin).

Norm Hawking played 212 games for Rutherglen across two stints – briefly in 1939 before the onset of World War II, and 12 more seasons from 1946 to 1957 after the war concluded.

Playing as a ruckman at the incredible stature of just 178cm, Norm kicked 129 goals, won the Morris Medal in 1951, four Rutherglen Best and Fairest awards, one Reserves Best and Fairest in 1957, and one Ovens and Murray Premiership in 1954.

He was also named in the Corowa Rutherglen Team of the Century (1903 to 2003) at centre-half-forward.

Hawking was described as a phenomenal mark for a man his size and proved to be one of the league’s best players just as Rutherglen was entering one of its most successful periods.

Vin Doolan played 161 games across three clubs (including 55 for Rutherglen) from 1968 to 1981, kicking 167 goals and representing the Ovens and Murray league 10 times.

Doolan debuted for Wodonga as a 15-year-old in 1968, played in their 1969 premiership winning team, and then went on to win their Best and Fairest award in 1970 in a lightning start to what promised to be a special career.

He went on to play 45 VFL games for North Melbourne from 1971 to 1974, topping the club’s goal kicking in 1972.

After his VFL career ended in 1974 due to injury, Doolan returned to play in the Ovens and Murray league as a coach at just 22 years old, playing 55 games for Rutherglen (their final four years as a standalone club), and a further 60 games at Wangaratta.

Vin Doolan was consistently one of the best players in the Ovens and Murray league during his era and was a member of the Greatest Ever Rutherglen Team.

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Friday, 17th July 2026

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