It has been 5155 days since the Cats last hosted the Hawks for premiership points at GMHBA Stadium.
The date was Saturday 15 April 2006 with Hawthorn prevailing in front of 24,000 supporters.
Since that day the Cats have gone on to win three premierships in 2007, 2009 and 2011, while Gary Ablett junior is the only player that remains from that team.
However, that is set to change after the AFL announced on Monday that the Cats would welcome the Hawks to Geelong when they relaunch their 2020 season on June 12.
Skipper Joel Selwood is looking forward to the prospect of hosting the Hawks.
“We look forward to them coming down and it will be great for Geelong in general that footy will be back on the screens and we will put on a great show,” Selwood said.
Teammate Tom Hawkins thinks it’s ‘exciting for footy’.
“It will be pretty cool to get them down. I don’t know when the last time was the Hawks came down here. I haven’t played them down here, so it’ll be great,” Hawkins said.
Defender Jed Bews is hopeful that the Cats knowledge of the ground will give them an edge when they meet in Round 2.
“It is pretty exciting and from what I have heard they haven’t played here for a long time,” Bews said.
“Probably no one on their list has actually played here so the dimensions might help us a bit, the conditions, the breeze, those little things that we have been training in all the time that they haven’t experienced.”
The Cats will also meet the Blues and Suns at GMHBA Stadium in rounds three and five, with a trip against the Dees at the MCG splitting the two games.
