GEELONG forward Tom Hawkins believes he's in the best shape he's been in for years leading into 2016.
The season begins for Hawkins and his teammates with a traditional Easter Monday clash against Hawthorn at the MCG.
The hulking forward's off-season body transformation came about after some frank discussions with officials at the club, with the introduction of the interchange cap firmly in mind.
"I feel I'm better conditioned this season for the rule changes," Hawkins said on Thursday afternoon.
"I feel like I'm a lot better prepared for what the year is going to throw at me, than I have been in the last couple of years."
As of this season, teams will be able to make 90 rotations per game rather than the 120 afforded to them in 2015.
The 27-year-old is targeting a playing weight of 104/105kg this season, after tipping the scales at up to 109kg in 2015.
"You've got to continue to adapt with the game and if you don't, you get left behind," Hawkins said.
"It was a discussion we had at the end of last year. The (interchange) cap from 120 to 90 is a huge difference."
Hawthorn has posed plenty of problems for Geelong in recent seasons, with the Cats unable to defeat the Hawks since round four, 2014.
However, Hawkins said the fresh makeup of Geelong’s side, which will include star recruits Patrick Dangerfield, Zac Smith and Lachie Henderson, would make Monday’s meeting more than interesting.
"There’s no doubt throughout the year that we’ll get better as a unit, but we have no doubts that we can start playing our best football from now onwards,” Hawkins said.
"We feel we’re in good shape."
The Cats have relied heavily on Hawkins up forward in recent seasons but the big man disputes the fact his side might be ‘one dimensional’.
He pointed to the returns of Daniel Menzel, Nathan Vardy and Lincoln McCarthy and the continual maturation of Darcy Lang and Cory Gregson as important factors in improving Geelong’s spread of goal kickers.
“I feel like we’ve got plenty of options. We had a good balance of goal kickers throughout the NAB (Challenge) series. Over the three games we averaged 12 different goal-kickers,” Hawkins said.
"That’s exciting for us. I’ve never really felt like we’re one-dimensional."
Hawkins is also relieved he will not have to face retired Hawk Brian Lake on Monday.
"It’s going to be different. He’s a great player and one of the toughest individual opponents I’ve faced over my career,” Hawkins said.
“In some ways I’m glad to see the back of him.
“They’ve got some ready-made replacements - Frawley, Gibson, Birchall plays pretty tall.
"I’m not sure who I’ll get but it’s an exciting prospect."
