Geelong legend Garry Hocking says a thief attempted to drive off while he was intervening in a generator theft outside his home in Belmont, forcing him to let go after the man tried to “veer” him into the ute.
Garry Hocking didn’t expect a normal day outside his Belmont home to turn into a fight for survival.
The 57-year-old Geelong great says the incident began on Thursday while he was cleaning his car. He was first drawn to something unusual in the southern suburbs—loud dance music playing from a vehicle near his house. Hocking then saw a man take a generator from a ute next door and load it into a car.
Hocking, who spent the best part of his football life as a Cats player after a career that ran from 1987 to 2001, said he looked through the bedroom window and saw the thief “next door in the ute.” He raced out and yelled “Oi!” as he watched the theft unfold.
In describing the frantic struggle. Hocking said the generator was being hooked to the back of his car’s seat as the thief tried to move it. “I’ve seen him rip off the generator. I’ve raced out [and yelled]. ‘Oi!’” he said on Triple M radio. laughing as he recalled the moment even as he detailed what followed.
He said the thief “thrown [it] in the back seat [of his car] and for the life of me I’m trying to get this generator out, it’s hooked on the back of the seat.” Then, as the chaos tightened, Hocking said the thief tried to drive off and “all of a sudden he’s tried to veer me into the ute.”
Hocking said he had no choice but to let go. “He’s gone and tried to veer me into the ute, so I’ve let go.”
He later explained that the ordeal didn’t stop at the theft. The thief’s attempt to move the vehicle created the terrifying risk. Hocking said the man tried to “squash” him between the car as he was still trying to get the generator back out. “He tried to squash me between the car as I was trying to get the generator out. ” he said. adding the generator was left near the ute after he was forced to release it.
The moment left Hocking “so disappointed” he couldn’t pull it free. But what stayed with him most was the reaction from his wife. He said she was outside when she saw what was happening and broke down in fear. “She was out the front. She was in tears. thinking she might have to get a bag and pick up me arms. me legs. me head. me torso. ” he told the panel on Triple M. which included fellow Geelong great Isaac Smith.
When Jay Clarke asked whether Hocking had “risked [his] life,” Hocking’s answer was blunt and immediate. “These are the things you do, mate.”
Geelong’s triple-time club best and fairest winner is not only known for his elite playing record—he played 274 AFL games for the Cats—but also for the moments that followed his football career. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008. is a member of Geelong’s team of the century. and was a four-time All Australian. He finished in the top three of the Brownlow Medal count four times and won club best and fairest awards in 1991. 1993. 1994 and 1996.
Hocking’s profile also includes a notorious publicity stunt in 1999 when he changed his name to “Whiskas” by deed poll to promote the popular cat food brand, after doing so in return for a large sum of money that helped the club at a time when it was “in dire straits financially.”
The Daily Mail has contacted Victoria Police for comment.
Still, for Hocking, the impact of Thursday’s theft was personal and immediate—loud music, a generator ripped from a ute, a desperate attempt to stop the escape, and a moment when his wife was left “in tears” as she watched.
Garry Hocking Geelong Cats AFL legend Belmont theft generator theft Triple M Isaac Smith Victoria Police
So like… the thief tried to play chicken? Wild.
Wait I thought it was his generator? Like how do you even hook it to a car seat and then try to crash into someone. Sounds like he should’ve just stayed inside.
The headline says “crush him in car” but in the story it’s more like push/veer while he’s grabbing the generator? Either way tho, I’m not convinced. People always exaggerate stuff on radio. Also why was there a ute involved like every second Aussie crime has one.
Honestly the loud dance music first thing?? That sounds like a setup lol. Like thief is jamming and then suddenly tries to yeet a generator into a back seat and steer into the guy? Sounds fake but I don’t know, I wasn’t there. If someone tries to hit you with a car you gotta let go I guess, but still… Geelong legend or not, don’t get too close to strangers.