From their fitness trip to Falls Creek before Christmas to the many summer days sweating it out at Simonds Stadium, the Cats haven’t stopped preparing themselves for the year ahead.
‘’Things are looking good…’’ Hawkins told Cats TV.
‘’Nothing but positive things from this preseason, everyone is coping really well, we’ve had a lot of guys playing out in the park. Things are looking good.’’
According to Hawkins the message from senior coach, Chris Scott, is to improve across the entire board and to collaboratively strengthen the defense of all players.
‘’I think we have to improve in areas all over the ground,’’ Hawkins said.
‘’We’ve been really honing in on the defensive side of our game and becoming a really good defensive unit together as a team.
‘’That (message) is probably the strongest one that has come out of this preseason so far.’’
Hawkins predicts that there will be a number of teams fighting hard for the top spot, and suspects that this years’ competition will remain pretty tight.
‘’I think there will be a few that are capable, I think Essendon and Carlton are a real danger,’’ Hawkins told Cats TV.
‘’And obviously the Hawks, Swans, Adelaide and Collingwood have (all) been good sides for the last three or four years now.’’
Hawkins can also see Fremantle breaking through and doing really well.
‘’I reckon they’ve built a really good list and are playing well under Ross Lyon. So I think the competition will be pretty even this year,’’ Hawkins said.
‘’There might be a few surprises but as far as I can see Freo, Carlton and Essendon will have a pretty good year.’’
Hawkins acknowledges the importance of Varcoe, Vardy and Menzel’s current and future role within the club.
However, he remains to be realistic regarding their return taking in to consideration the long road to recovery that many players face. Hawkins knows that these situations cannot be rushed, especially after such significant injuries.
‘’It is very exciting for the supporters and for us as a team, they are very important players to the way we play,’’ Hawkins explained to Cats TV.
‘’(However) they won’t be rushed back into the side, they have all had long term injuries and long term injuries are hard to get over.’’
‘’I think it will be a year where they find their feet a bit, get a few games together and then I think we will see exciting things from them.
‘’They look really good at the moment and I encourage people not to expect too much from them too soon.
‘’In years to come they are going to be very important for us.’’
The club’s three new recruits, Josh Caddy, Jared Rivers and Hamish McIntosh, have already indicated to Hawkins that their contribution to the club, despite their different level of play and attributes, will be valuable in the way of experience, skills and future leadership.
‘’Each of them are different,’’ Hawkins said.
‘’Josh first of all is a young player and he’s got himself in really good physical condition, he knows the game well.’’
‘’Probably up at the Gold Coast he didn’t have the people around him, as in players that we do here, so he is going to learn a lot in the first year of his footy down here at the club, but he’s a really exciting prospect in years to come.
‘’Jared and Hamish are both very experienced (and) both played really good football at their previous club… they bring experience and that is something we need being a relatively young side.’’
Overall Hawkins is also impressed by the younger guys’ performance in the squad. He is particularly excited about Jesse Stringer and Jordan Schroder's recent progress out on the field, along with Josh Cowan, who was unfortunately placed on the long-term injury list earlier this week.
‘’I think as a whole, the younger groups really impress me,’’ Hawkins told Cats TV.
‘’But in particular Jordan Schroder, Jesse Stringer and Josh Cowan, we didn’t see a lot of Josh last year but those three are really impressive out on the track.’’
‘’I think Jesse is going to be a really good player for us, for a skinning kid he is very competitive and very hard at it, so without trying to single out to many people, those three spring to mind pretty quickly.’’
