Les worked as a hairdresser at 'Plugger' Bourke's barber shop,[3] and young Garry served an apprenticeship with him before moving to Geelong.
[4] Hocking and elder brother Steve were part of then Geelong coach John Devine's mass recruiting drive which also netted players such as Gavin Exell, Bruce Lindner, Dwayne Russell, Mark Bairstow and Billy Brownless in the mid-1980s.
Hocking made his senior VFL debut in the 1987 round 3 match against Melbourne at Kardinia Park, wearing the number 51.
That year Geelong became the glamour team of the competition, twice kicking a score of over 200 points and drawing fans to games with their flamboyant, all-out attacking brand of football.
Hocking represented Victoria on numerous occasions in the State of Origin series and played in four losing Grand Final sides (1989, 1992, 1994, 1995).
On 6 August 2012, he was appointed caretaker senior coach for the remainder of the 2012 season when Matthew Primus was sacked following the round 19 loss to AFL newcomer Greater Western Sydney.
In 2020, Port veteran and football media personality Kane Cornes recalled Hocking's first address to the players as senior coach on the day of his appointment in 2012 and the brutal training session at Grange beach early the following morning: It’s 4:00am in the morning at Grange Beach and I’ve never seen the ocean put on an uglier display.
'Buddha' said, "Strip down, we’re about to pay the price", so we all got into our budgie smugglers or board shorts... usually when coaches have this sort of quick dip, you do a few duck dives and get out, but this was completely different.
We stayed out in that freezing cold water for over an hour at 4:00am and it is honestly the coldest that I have ever been, to the point where you really question whether you wanted to keep doing this, that’s how depressing it was to turn up to a footy club when you lose.
At the end of 2017, Hocking returned to the AFL by accepting a position as assistant coach at the Collingwood Football Club for the 2018 season.
[16] He was appointed senior coach of the club's VFL (reserves) side ahead of the 2020 season, which was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[18] Hocking announced his retirement from coaching following Leopold's win in the 2024 GFL grand final after leading the club to back-to-back premierships.
[19] Hocking and his wife Melina have three children: daughters Tayla and Chelsea, and son Lochlan, who joined the Geelong Falcons in 2019.