Tonkes could play a variety of positions, from defence, the wing to half back.
He played his early football at Preston Juniors and was recruited to the VFL from Essendon United.
War duties limited him to seven appearances in 1944 and he missed the entire 1945 season as he was serving in the Pacific.
The following year he returned to the league and was a half back flanker in the victorious 1946 VFL Grand Final team.
This Australian rules football biography of a person born in the 1920s is a stub.