Geelong enjoyed a successful hit-out on Monday, taking down Hawthorn in a match simulation to kickstart their 2025 campaign. 

Brad Close played an instrumental role for the Cats on Monday, pushing forward to put pressure on the Hawks and finishing with three goals. 

Not only was he impactful on the scoreboard, but Close also collected 18 disposals and took seven marks in a well rounded performance. 

Speaking with Andrew Gaze and Andy Maher on SEN Drive post game, Close said that the pre-season matches are a great chance to put into practice what the team has learned during the break. 

"We have trained really hard over the last couple of months on different parts of our game, especially our ball movement," Close said. 

"The match simulation was a good chance to try it against a different opposition, I thought there were some really good passages of our movement and ball use.

"There is plenty of things we will take from that, things that we can tweak and keep working on throughout the year."

The Cats attention will now turn to next Tuesday's AAMI Community Series clash, with Geelong set to host Essendon at GMHBA Stadium. 

It will mark the team's final hit-out before their season opening match, when they head to the Gabba to take on Brisbane. 

The initial takeaways for the Cats were positive, taking plenty of learnings from their first game of the year against the Hawks. 

"The feedback amongst the players and staff was that we are pretty happy with how we played," Close said.

"We probably could have finished a bit better in the front half at times, but it was a promising start to our season. 

"I think you have to bring a strong mindset no matter what game you are playing. It was good hit-out and a good way to prepare.

"We obviously have Essendon next week, another hit-out to really fine tune and then we are into it a few days later."