Hawthorn Forwards Coach Adrian Hickmott has emphasised the importance of high intensity training as the team prepares for upcoming practice matches against Geelong and the Western Bulldogs in February. 

Since returning to the track after Christmas, the Hawks have hit the ground running and are continuing to step up their training each week, with many players showing some strong signs at Bunjil Bagora, Waverley Park.

Read what Hickmott had to say about the team’s 2025 pre-season to date.

On the team’s fitness levels post-Christmas

“Yeah they have (come back fit and healthy). The first day back was a six-minute run and you can compare the times for when they left before Christmas to now and they’re excellent. They seem to be hitting the ground really well.” 

On the team’s key focuses in January

“Just train with effort, really make sure they work together and enjoy training. You’ve got Jack Ginnivan, Nick Watson and Connor McDonald, then you've got William Day and (James) Worpel through the middle training really well, and Tommy Barrass comes down and adds a bit of spark and bit of spunk to the backline. We want to train with effort through each training session.”

On who’s training well so far

“Young (Josh) Ward, young (Cam) Mackenzie and (Henry) Hustwaite in the middle. It's a good tussle with midfield. We have our four experienced players in (Conor) Nash, Worpel, Day and (Jai) Newcombe, and then Ward, Mackenzie and Hustwaite. It's exciting to see. Then on the outside, we have (Massimo) D’Ambrosio and (Harry) Morrison. So that midfield group is exciting and talented, but they're pushing each other all the time to get better. So it's quite exciting to watch.”

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On the forwards and who’s training well 

“The forwards’ focus is to really enjoy their footy. Come out, work together and really bring their weapons, so bring what they got drafted for. So that sounds pretty broad, but when you say it to a young AFL player, they bring that excitement. And then we've got Jack Gunston and Luke Breust showing a lot of masterclasses, so crumbing, shots on goal, work rate around the ground and running patterns. So they're the type of things we're working on leading into the season.”

On the team’s work rate during training sessions

“Yeah, well, you’ve just seen them train. We did a bit of match practice and some drills with high intensity work rate. Then afterwards, they'll run, so you’ll see them run up and down the ground for about two to three minutes, just to top up. To give them extra running challenges them mentally and physically, but they seem to love it. Then they stop and Max Ramsden, Lloyd Meek and Ned Reeves do contested marking afterwards. That's what we're looking for.”

On the group’s progression ahead of practice matches 

“Each line and the team’s focus is just to work together, so understand how we want to move the ball, understand how we want to defend. It's really important. Then we start to slowly work on our structures around that… in small-sided game drills. Now with practice games, that extends out to 18 v 18, so we hope to put that together.”

Watch Hickmott's full interview below.