Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge insists the fact that his AFL club are facing bogey team Geelong in Friday night’s preliminary final isn’t creating any added anxiety.
The Hawks are favoured to break their 11-game losing streak against the Cats, helped by the fact they’ve just had a weekend off and will welcome back stars Lance Franklin and Cyril Rioli.
Hodge said Hawthorn’s focus was firmly on producing their best on Friday night to reach another grand final, not on their previous record against Geelong.
“A prelim final, we found out last year, it doesn’t matter who you come up against it’s going to be a hard, tough game,” the Hawks skipper told reporters on Monday.
“We’ve had that mentality all last week and we’ll have the same this week.
“We’ve pretty much focused on what we can do.
“It’s going to be a ferocious game Friday night, you couldn’t think of a better stage.”
Asked if Hawthorn players would discuss the Cats’ recent hold over them this week, Hodge said they were looking ahead.
“Whatever’s happened in the past is in the past,” he said.
“We are that focused on Friday night.
“Our training session last week was good and we’re preparing for a big physical game on Friday.”
He said reaching a grand final was the only motivation needed.
“Geelong are in our road to get to that goal. That’s as big a motivation as you need.”
While Hodge on Sunday said the Hawks would need to change something from the way they’ve played in previous meetings to break the streak, he refused to elaborate on Monday, or say whether he thought the difference in the past had been tactical or mental.
“We’re probably not going to let anything slip early in the week,” he said.
“It’s a big game, it’s a prelim, both teams are going to be hard at it and we can’t wait.”
While Geelong’s form so far in the finals has been patchy, Hodge noted they “flicked the switch” after halftime to beat Port Adelaide on Friday night and acknowledged the Cats’ potential to produce such bursts was a big weapon.
“That and their strength in and under, but you’ve got to expect that from them and we’ll be ready for it on Friday,” he said.