Geelong will play Hawthorn on Easter Monday in what is set to be another blockbuster clash at the MCG.

This match will also serve as the annual Dare to Hope match, raising much needed awareness and funds for the Dare to Hope. Find out more HERE.

The Hawks will be looking for their first win after a loss to Essendon in Round 1, and defeat last week to the Demons by 55 points.

The Cats will head into Round 3 looking to make it 3-0, and position they haven’t been in since 2019.

Geelong, who last week lost two key players (Mitch Duncan and Tom Atkins) just moments before last Friday’s game, were able to galvanise and pick up a huge away win in Adelaide. 

Geelong will see the return of Duncan, Atkins, and Tanner Bruhn, as well as seeing Jack Bowes and Toby Conway for the first time in 2024.

Henry Hustwaite, Harry Morrison and Lloyd Meek are the new additions to Hawthorn's team this week.

Hawkins 350

Tom Hawkins will run out for Geelong this weekend in what will be his 350th game of AFL football. A feat that has only been achieved by 23 other players. 

He will become just the third player from Geelong to do so and will join Joel Selwood as the only two to have accomplished this number playing all 350 games for the Cats.

Of those who are on the prestigious 350 games played list, Hawkins is third for total career goals, behind Lance Franklin (1066) and Bernie Quinlan (817).

Going by his career average of 2.25 goals per game, Hawkins will overtake Quinlan in game 364.

If Hawkins is able to kick two goals in Round 3, he will move into 13th position on the most career goals list, ahead of Jack Riewoldt (787).    

The numbers three, five, and zero are fitting for Tom Hawkins career to date.

Three – The Number of Premierships Won
2009 - eight disposals and two goals.
2011 - 19 disposals, three goals and received five votes for the Norm Smith Medal
2022 – 14 disposals, three goals and broke the game open early kicking the first two majors of the game

Five – The Number of All Australian Honours
2012 – 22 games and 62 goals
2019 – 24 games and 56 goals 
2020 – 21 games, 49 goals and winner of the Coleman Medal 
2021 – 25 games and 62 goals 
2022 – 25 games and 67 goals in a premiership winning side 

Zero – The amount of goals he was on for two quarters of his career
With 3:55 minutes remaining in third quarter of the Round 2 clash between the Geelong Cats and the Carlton Blues, first gamer Tom Hawkins took a mark 49 metres out from goal. Without hesitation, Hawkins turned and lined up for goal. Teammate Travis Varcoe pointed straight towards goal, confident in Hawkins’ ability from 50 out. In what would be known in true Tom Hawkins fashion, a beautiful left to right drop punt sailed through the big sticks, and Cats forward got his career goal tally started.

The Rivalry

Arguable one of the biggest rivalries in the AFL, Hawthorn and Geelong have played each other 170 times with 93 wins to the Cats, 76 wins to the Hawks and a single draw between the two teams.

The 1989 Grand Final between Hawthorn and Geelong is wildly regarded as the greatest Grand Final of all time. Big names, big scores, and a close winning margin.

Running around on that day were players like Gary Ablett Snr, Dermott Brereton, Billy Brownless, Robert DiPierdomenico and Jason Dunstall. The physicality was fierce and despite a last quarter surge from Ablett Snr and the Cats, it was Hawthorn who won the premiership by just six points. Ablett Snr was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for his nine-goal performance.                

19 years later, the two teams would again battle it out in the 2008 Grand Final. Hawthorn would beat the reigning premiers by 26 points. Geelong would end the game with 23 behinds, 11 coming from rushed behinds from Hawthorn, changing the rule around rushed behind for future seasons.

Following the Grand Final loss, the rivalry was sparked into over drive when then Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett made the following remarks. 

“What they don’t have, I think, is the quality of some of our players; they don’t have the psychological drive we have. We’ve beaten Geelong when it matters," Kennett said.

Geelong would go on to beat Hawthorn in their next 11 meetings, with two of those results coming from kicks after the siren, Jimmy Bartel in 2009 (Behind to win 99-98) and Tom Hawkins (Goal to win 118-116). This birthed the term of the ‘Kennett Curse’

A curse survived from the 2009 to the 2013 Preliminary Final where Hawthorn would beat Geelong by five points.

Of the 13 games played on Easter Monday, Geelong have been victorious on 10 of those occasions. With the closest margin of one point being won by Hawthorn in 2018 and the largest margin of 86 points being won by Geelong in 2017.

The last time these two teams met, it was the Cats who were victors, taking out the Easter Monday special by 82 points.

Geelong will take on Hawthorn at the MCG on Monday 1 April with the first bounce at 3.20pm.

TOM HAWKINS has now played 350 games, but he has never played one like this. Before the 35-year-old was carried off the MCG after his milestone appearance, the game paused for 40 minutes due to a severe weather delay, delaying a night of celebration for one of Geelong's most celebrated modern-day greats. 

While the Stawell Gift was delayed by more than two hours due to lightning and a downpour of rain earlier in the day, the traditional Easter Monday blockbuster became a classic by the time the final siren finally sounded to confirm a 36-point Geelong win. 

HAWKS v CATS Full match coverage and stats

Before the 17.4 (106) to 10.10 (70) result, the MCG had descended into chaos. Both sides vacated the ground just before the start of the fourth quarter when the margin was 36 points due to the threat of lightning in the vicinity of Yarra Park. It meant the longest round of the season lasted even longer than planned.

After starting its premiership defence 0-3 and eventually watching on last September, Geelong is 3-0 and firmly back in premiership contention, heading to Gather Round as one of only four undefeated sides in the competition, along with Greater Western Sydney, Fremantle and Carlton.

Hawkins became only the 24th player in VFL/AFL history to reach 350 games on Easter Monday. He started the day one goal behind Richmond great Jack Riewoldt in 14th spot on the all-time list and moved 10 goals off joining the 800-goal club after celebrating his milestone with four majors in front of 67,020 people. 

Ollie Henry also kicked four goals in the wet, including the sealer midway through the last quarter after Hawthorn had the first six scoring shots and all the momentum, while Tanner Bruhn – the other former first-round pick that moved to Kardinia Park at the end of 2022 – collected a career-high 27 disposals, 15 contested possessions and nine clearances in the best performance of his burgeoning career. 

It only took 10 minutes for Hawkins to start terrorising a side he has a long history with, even if that felt like yesterday by the end of play. Jeremy Cameron made the Hawks pay in time on after a moment to forget for Luke Breust. The Hawthorn veteran was strolling inside 50 and had Mitch Lewis open in the goalsquare, but Tom Stewart made him hesitate, once, then twice, and he slipped, missing a certain goal. While the Hawks wasted certainties, Geelong kicked low percentage goals from nowhere. By the first break, the Cats led by six goals and the game was almost over. 

After missing the last fortnight with a foot injury, Bruhn amassed 15 disposals in the first quarter alone to set the tone. Max Holmes went to work on the outside like he was running down the straight at the Stawell Gift. 

For the third weekend in row, James Sicily was under siege down back, particularly early. But the All-Australian defender stemmed the bleeding. Hawthorn then radically improved its pressure, highlighted best when Mabior Chol ran down Zach Guthrie inside 50 and converted the goal. 

Jack Ginnivan and Nick Watson got under the skin of Geelong's vaunted back six, including vice-captain Stewart. The recruit and the top-five pick look made to play together. And they made the Cats pay in the second quarter. 

When Lewis hauled in a towering pack mark and nailed the set shot, everything was working for Hawthorn's forward line, except for a chance the 'Wizard' missed that he would have kicked hundreds of times in the past decade. Fortunately, Chol added his second just before the main break and a game that looked almost dead at quarter-time was resuscitated. Hawthorn kicked five goals to one in the second term.

Chol kicked his third goal three minutes into the third quarter to reduce the margin to under a kick, but that was as close as the game would get. Toby Conway plucked a big contested grab in his second game and ended a run of five consecutive goals. Tyson Stengle was gifted a shot from the boundary after a dubious insufficient intent call was paid against Hawthorn. Henry left Sicily incensed but didn't nail his chance, as the rain started to pelt the MCG. 

The Cats' superior experience mastered the slippery conditions. Mitch Duncan stepped up and was involved in everything with 10 touches and a long-range goal after missing the win over Adelaide in round two due to a late dash home to be at the birth of his fourth child. Geelong kicked six goals to almost put the game to bed. That was before the delay changed everything. 

When play resumed, Ginnivan needed just 20 seconds to ignite a crowd that had gone cold, breathing life into the Hawks by marking and goaling deep inside 50. Game on. Lloyd Meek and Worpel missed shots in the teeming rain. It was all Hawthorn late. Most of the crowd didn't leave during the delay and were rewarded for staying.

When Watson finally kicked his first goal of the game – and second of his career – in a moment of magic after missing three shots to start the day, the margin was just 20 points with 10 minutes to play. But Henry, playing in front, took a mark and kicked the sealer to end the Hawks' comeback hopes.

What is going on?

The last time a game was stopped due to lightning was when Melbourne survived a late charge from West Coast at Optus Stadium in round 21, 2021. Play was halted for 29 minutes on a wild night in the west. The delay was even longer on Easter Monday, but fans weren't bored in the break. Two pitch invaders ran onto the ground while the rain continued to bucket down. 

Terrific Tanner

Tanner Bruhn was selected at pick No.12 in 2020 for a reason. The former Greater Western Sydney midfielder showed signs of his quality last year, but on Easter Monday, the 21-year-old stamped himself as a star of the future. Bruhn finished with a career-high 27 disposals, 15 contested possessions, nine clearances and five tackles in a brilliant display in difficult conditions. Geelong's midfield is in transition. In Bruhn, the Cats have a long-term option.

HAWTHORN          1.1     6.3       8.4     10.10 (70)
GEELONG              7.1     8.2     14.4     17.4 (106)

GOALS
Hawthorn: Chol 3, Mackenzie 2, Worpel, Watson, Macdonald, Lewis, Ginnivan
Geelong: O.Henry 4, Hawkins 4, Stengle 2, Cameron 2, Miers, Holmes, Duncan, Conway, Close

BEST
Hawthorn: Worpel, Nash, Chol, Meek, Newcombe
Geelong: Duncan, O.Henry, Bruhn, Holmes, Stewart, Hawkins

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Lewis (hamstring), Watson (ankle)
Geelong: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Harry Morrison (replaced Henry Hustwaite in the third quarter)
Geelong: Jack Bowes (replaced Tom Atkins at three-quarter time)

Crowd: 67,020 at the MCG