The Hawks have already set up a GoFundMe page for the likeable "Kiwi" who fractured his C7 vertebrae in the first quarter of Saturday's reserve grade game against Marrar at Gumly Oval.

The game was halted for nearly an hour as he was immediately attended by club medical staff Alex McDonald and Dave Pocock until paramedics arrived.

Thwaites was taken to Wagga Base Hospital and on Sunday morning was flown to Sydney.

"They didn't fly him to Sydney last night because there was a lot of turbulence with all the wind so he's gone this morning," EWK president Paul Bourne said.

"It's the C7 at the top of the spine, below the neck. It's broken. So he's got a bit of a long road to recovery ahead. They will operate to fuse it together."

In a cruel twist, Thwaites was playing his farewell game before heading home to New Zealand this week.

"The poor bugger, it was his last game and he was moving back to New Zealand. He has a one-way ticket booked for Tuesday," Bourne said.

With Thwaites' family in New Zealand, the Hawks will get around their mate in a big way, immediately kicking off fundraising efforts.

"He's got no family over here. He's played with us for a few years and he's just one of those blokes - always happy, always smiling. Your typical twos player, just happy to be there," Bourne said.

The club says "Kiwi" is in good spirits and they're hopeful the outlook is promising.

Bourne praised the quick-thinking reactions of McDonald and Pocock.

"He's going to be on his back for some weeks before he'll start to learn to walk again," Bourne said.

"They're hopeful that it's fixable but he's got a long road ahead. But it's looking promising at this stage. That's partly to do with Alex and Dave.

"Our trainers ran straight out, grabbed his head and said, 'Do not move'. If he had have moved, he would have been in trouble.

"We can't thank them enough."

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