Veteran Australian footballer Doug Hawkins (53) of Western Bulldogs was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the club's annual function.

With this honour, he now joins the elite company with names like John Schultz, Charles Sutton and Ted Whitten Sr.

Hawkins grew up in the suburb of Braybrook at Melbourne and resided in Bacchus Marsh for past 25 years. His dream to join football came true when, as a teenager, he made his VFL debut for Footscray in 1978. From there, started his long and eventful journey. He played for 329 games and was also selected as vice captain in the club's Team of the Century.

Hawkins said, "To think that here I am, the boy from Braybrook, 17-year-old coming out of the commission flats that had a dream about playing footy ... to be elevated to a legend of a VFL/AFL club is pretty good, isn't it?"

"It's probably the biggest individual thing you can get outside of a Brownlow Medal."

"To be put in the category of Ted, Charlie and Schultzy was something pretty special. I was pretty humbled about it and I was a bit overawed by the whole thing."

Having joined the local football club at the age of 9 in the year 1970, life of Hawkins was not easy rolling and he had learnt all along the way, on and off the field.

"Growing up in Braybrook was fantastic for me."

"It taught me to stand up and be counted and not to take yourself too seriously and don't be too scared to laugh at yourself, and to treat people with respect."

"It kept you honest. What wasn't yours could become yours pretty quickly."

Hawkins played in seven grand finals for six flags in eight seasons with Baybrook.

He said "The Braybrook footy club had this winning culture."

"They had an amazing belief that we were the best, and if we lost a game it was like the end of the world.

"From under-12s all the way through, we just had this winning feeling."

Having joined Footscray, Hawkins showed his merit and did not take much time to secure an important position.

"It gave me a belonging, like Braybrook footy club did," he said.

"As soon as I walked in there I looked around and saw Gary Dempsey, Kelvin Templeton, Ted Whitten Jr, Alan Stoneham - all these blokes I watched, and then I was playing with them."

"I owe the footy club a hell of a lot."

Hawkins was at his best from 1984-1986. The ardent supporters of Dogs still talks about the final series in 1985, where Footscray reached the preliminary final round and suffered a loss against Hawthorn.

"I think I just had a lot of belief in myself and my own ability," Hawkins said.

"I worked very hard when I was a young fellow at Braybrook."

"There were times where you felt that no one is going to beat you."

"Not being big headed or boastful, it's just that you ran out on the oval and had this confidence that you were at the top of your game and had control of what you were doing."

"Back in those days you played one-on-one, so I was prepared for who I was going to get and you knew what they were going to do and their weaknesses and their strengths."

"They (finals) are the games you want to stand up in and the games that people remember."

"We didn't make the grand final and I wish we did - we would have given Essendon one hell of a fright in '85"

Hawkins also coached Bacchus Marsh in the year 2013 for Ballarat Football League before he resigned at the end of the season. However, he did not fully rule out the idea of coaching.

"I really enjoyed it and the kids were fantastic," he said. "Would I coach again? I may revisit it."