AS a Geelong, Hawthorn or even a neutral fan, Easter Monday rolls around each year with a sense of anticipation. 

The MCG has proven to be a battle ground time and time again as Melbourne stops to spend its public holiday watching one of our greatest modern rivalries.

The significance of the clash isn’t lost on Cats skipper Joel Selwood.

“Playing the Hawks, it doesn’t matter where we sit on the ladder it’s always a great contest. I think the players bring the best out in each other [and] the coaches bring the best out in each other,” he says.

 “It’s the only game on for the day, so a lot of people are watching it, so you want to give it your best effort and play your best footy on those days.”

His counterpart at the Hawks, Jarryd Roughead, agrees.

 “They’re the ones you want to be a part of. Fifty, 60, or 70 thousand at times at the MCG – they’re the one you enjoy the most,” he says.

For the four-time premiership player, much of the appeal of the contest comes in facing the relentless Selwood.

“He’s a great leader who knows what to do at the right time and has done it all in terms of individual accolades,” he says.

“You’re going to get some soft skin around his eyebrows that normally pops so he’s normally good for a couple of stitches.”

 His counts himself fortunate to have played against the Cats skipper.

 “He’s very, very humble and at the end of the day when I’m done I can say to kids and friends that I got to play against Joel Selwood.”

 “You take off the footy jumper and he’s just a normal bloke like the rest of us – he breathes the same air and eats the same food and that’s what you like about him.”

 Joel, for his part, is also looking forward to renewing the bitterly contested rivalry.

 “We were lucky enough to get on the end of a lot of wins there for a while, but the Hawks won them at the right time too when they got a little bit of a run on us throughout 2013 in their premiership era.”

“We all feel lucky to be a part of the game.”