By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
THE most intriguing question of round one is whether Hawthorn can finally break the Kennett curse and defeat Geelong for the first time in nine meetings.
The Hawks will hope to catch Geelong on a slow start to the year but NAB Cup results indicate the only tardiness on Monday might be coloured brown and gold.
Geelong has shown stellar form through the pre-season, with all young guns blazing.
While pre-season results are less than a solid indicator of team prospects over an entire season, the results of the first two games of the split first round ring true.
Essendon and Fremantle won first up and had the better of the pre-season over their respective opponents.
Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge admitted Geelong’s pre-season only reinforced his view of the club’s hunger to win.
“That’s why they have had so much success. Every time they go out onto the field, they are ready to play for one another,” Hodge said.
“We’ve had a lot of guys go and watch them and that’s one thing that has stood out. They look eager, they look sharp, very clean with their ball movement.
“That is usually a sign that they are ready and hungry for the season to come around.”
Hodge will almost certainly miss the opener but team mates Cyril Rioli (ankle) and Brian Lake (calf) are racing to be fit after missing the last three weeks of the pre-season competition.
Midfielder Shaun Burgoyne said both were hoping to be selected after training solidly this week.
“They’re fit and ready to play, so it just depends on match committee and which way they go,” Burgoyne said.
“We trained a lot smarter over the pre-season, so we’re comfortable with where we’re sitting going into round one.
“We’ve had some pretty fierce battles over the last couple of years and they’ve come out on top.
“I have no doubt on Monday there’s going to be a massive crowd and they’re going to come out hard at us again. Hopefully we can turn things around this time.”
Cats skipper Joel Selwood will certainly be ready after playing more AFL games at the MCG – 43 – than at his home ground of Simonds Stadium where he’s run around in 40.
Cats coach Chris Scott still held out hope that ruckman Trent West could be fit for Easter Monday’s MCG blockbuster.
“Medically, they’re extremely confident but given there’s still almost two weeks until we play we’ve just got to see how he trains,” Scott said.
Veteran defender Josh Hunt is rebuilding his fitness base after being struck down with glandular fever in January and will probably return through the VFL.
Geelong’s VFL side meets Williamstown 2pm Sunday at Torquay Football Ground.
