Faces in the crowd: Hawks legend Gordie McLeod

During the Illawarra Hawks' 43-year existence, 221 players have pulled on the club's jersey.

But the number of fans who have supported the foundation club during that period is exponentially more.

As such, the club has decided to profile some of the most prominent and longest-serving HawkHeads with our new 'faces in the crowd' series.

After profiling Illawarra's three intern coaches and  long-time HawkHead John TrivellionScott, we decided to highlight the journey of club legend Gordie McLeod - who started playing basketball at the age of nine.

"A mate who I played soccer with for Woonona, Nigel Watler, asked if I wanted to play basketball in his team at the Wollongong Police Boy’s Club," McLeod said.

"I went along to training and fell in love with the speed and skill of the game.

"It did help that our coach was Ted Weston and he taught us the individual and team fundamentals of the game which set me on the right path to enjoy the game.

"A big thank you must also go to Nigel’s parents who picked me up and dropped me off for practice and games as my mum was always working - without their help my journey in basketball would not have happened."

That journey led him to achieving his dream of representing the Illawarra Hawks.

"When I was a kid growing up I played soccer, cricket and basketball and enjoyed them all," the Keira High School alum said.

"Like most kids, I would dream of making junior representative teams and then junior state teams, but it wasn’t until I went to a men’s representative game between Illawarra and Newcastle at Beaton Park that really inspired me to try and reach that level.

"I was still playing junior basketball when I was asked to try out for the Hawks and could not believe it when I made the team - that was the start of my Hawks journey, made possible by all the hard work of my junior coach Ted Weston."

McLeod was part of the Hawks' inaugural NBL side in 1979, which saw him go on to make countless ever-lasting memories as a player.

"There have been many wonderful memories like the crowd going crazy when we defeated the Adelaide 36ers to make the playoffs for the first time at the Snakepit in 1985 - the crowd invaded the court and treated everyone like rock stars," the former point guard said.

"In July 1985, we had a road trip to Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne to play three games in three days in three states.

"Friday night we lost to Perth by 15 points, Saturday we travelled to Adelaide and lost by 75 points and then Sunday morning we travelled to Melbourne to play St Kilda that afternoon and won by a point  93-92 - wow, what a ride that was.

"After the game, a quick shower and dash to the airport to get our flight to Sydney and bus to the ‘Gong as players had to go to work on Monday."

Along with those, McLeod mentioned his favourite memories came during the early days at the Snakepit.

"In the very early days on game day, the players along with volunteers would carry the metal stands onto court two and attach the timber bench seating for the fans to sit on and enjoy the game," the 259-game NBL veteran said.

"Then after the game, we would take it all down again and carry it back outside as games had to be played the next day.

"When the new Snakepit was built at Beaton Park, the games went to a whole new level of atmosphere and energy with a lot more fans crammed all around the court and upstairs in the new bar area.

"The famous huge dummy would occasionally appear onto the court when opposition players and coaches would throw the toys out of the cot and blow up.

"Many wonderful after-game functions were held upstairs when players from both teams would assemble upstairs to enjoy a post-game feed and a few drinks while they mingled with volunteers, fans and sponsors."

One game in particular from that time stands out to McLeod.

"In the first round of the 1986 season, we defeated West Sydney Westars by one point," he said.

"After many protests by the Westars, due to a three-pointer being put down as a two early in the game, the NBL issued the game be replayed later in the season.

"The replay was billed as the grudge match of the decade.

"After another exciting contest, the Hawks defeated the Westars by one point again 98-97."

After playing nine of his 12 seasons with Illawarra, McLeod retired as a player in 1991.

But his association with his boyhood club wasn't over yet, as he signed on as head coach ahead of the 2009-10 season - following stints with the Cascade Tassie Devils, West Sydney Razorbacks and Singapore Slingers.

"When I walked back in the door in 2009, the Hawks were a community-owned team again with a passionate board and supporter base who wanted to keep the club competing in the NBL," said McLeod, who finished with a 149–173 career coaching record.

"Having been born and raised in Wollongong, I felt right at home and very excited about the enormous challenges ahead of us all.

"This is where I learnt how to play and develop my game and it was this community who helped me so much to reach and achieve my playing goals - I was very confident they would be as supportive again."

Upon reflecting on his time with the Wollongong-based club, McLeod explained the main difference between his playing and coaching stints with the Hawks.

"The main difference when I was playing, the NBL was semi-professional and players, coaches and support staff still had full-time jobs and had to train two to three nights a week," said McLeod, who is one of five players to have his jersey retired by the foundation club.

"When I came back to coach in 2009, players and coaches were full-time and we had a Hawks front office, with a small and committed office team as well.

"Another major difference was the advancement in sport science (monitoring player's workloads) and technology (video analysis of opposition teams and individual skill development).

"The club has developed and grown from a community amateur basketball association to a professional-owned basketball team.

"In my time as a player and coach the organisation has prided itself on being a community-minded club and tried to maintain it as Illawarra’s team.

"We worked tirelessly in schools and the community to engage youth to participate in healthy life choices.

"It's very satisfying to see what looks like a really stable ownership group in place who are very focussed on success."

Looking ahead, McLeod, who is proud of the tradition the club holds as the lone foundation club still competing, is excited for the future of the team under new head coach Jacob Jackomas.

"The ownership group showed their intention with the signing of Brian [Goorjian] and Jacob a few years ago and they have put two very exciting competitive teams that have challenged," he said.

"Jacob has well and truly earned his stripes with his association with Brian and it's great to see the ownership group reward him to take the next step.

"It's going to be exciting to see the new signings during free agency."