Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron have begun sorting out “teething issues” in a talent-packed Cats forward line now featuring the two former Coleman medallists.
“We were both admittedly pretty scratchy,” Hawkins told the media on Wednesday, after the Cats’ scratch match against Collingwood last Friday.
“I expect us to both fit in and play well together [but] it may take time getting used to slight variations of how we play.
“My opinion is we play very different. There will be some growing pains initially.
“Our first inside 50 on the weekend, I was in the skinny space, Pat [Dangerfield] took the mark in front of the grandstand, and I actually got in Jeremy’s way – bumped into him – and he managed to mark the footy still.
“There is obviously … going to be a lot of speculation on Jeremy and the other two recruits in Isaac [Smith] and Shaun [Higgins].
“There’ll be a few teething issues like there is with any forward line at the start of the year but I expect that we’ll be OK.”
Gary Rohan also stood out last Friday, taking some impressive pack marks against the Pies.
“I thought our forward six as a collective were really dynamic,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins described practice matches like last Friday and Saturday night’s game against Essendon as “vital tools” for getting players on the same page and boosting their physicality.
“The alternative was to go over to St Mary’s and run laps, and that didn’t whet my appetite that much,” he laughed.
“As a group you get to train together, but you don’t get to have the physical contact that you’re after and that you need to prepare for the start of the season.
“It gets dialled up certainly in the first three or four weeks.”
The Cats’ newer players impressed Hawkins as Geelong scraped over the line against Collingwood by two points.
“The first quarter was really good, we seemed to be able to move the ball up the field pretty well,” he said.
“I look forward to playing with another quality player in our forward line.
“But to be frank I was really impressed with … the growth in some of our younger players from last year.
“Gryan Miers, I thought, was outstanding and was really composed in front of goal when he got the chance.
“Frank Evans showed some really good signs coming off a somewhat limited pre-season, Sam De Koning I got to play with, Shannon Neale for the first time.
“So that was probably as exciting as anything – not playing down my excitement levels of playing with a star in Jeremy, but I was really impressed with the forward line as a collective.”
Geelong takes on Essendon at GMHBA Stadium at 7.10pm on Saturday.
The Cats’ AFLW side is still chasing its first win against Carlton on Sunday.
