EXPERIENCED Hawk Shaun Burgoyne believes the stage is set for another chapter in the Hawthorn-Geelong rivalry.
With both the Hawks and Cats having plenty to play for – top-two and top-eight berths respectively – Saturday night’s clash under lights at the MCG promises to be another blockbuster.
The Hawks have won the sides’ past three meetings, but eight of the last 12 meetings between the Hawks and Cats have been decided by 20 points or less.
“The whole top eight is quite close and we need to win to stay in touch with the top two,” Burgoyne said.
“Geelong is working really hard to stay inside the eight and cement their spot.
“We’ve built up a great rivalry over probably the past 10 years against Geelong, so hopefully we get a massive crowd to the game.
“The one thing about these games is they’re always close and keep people on the edge of their seat.”
Burgoyne said the Cats’ mixture of youth and experience made them a dangerous proposition.
“We’ve looked at them this week – they’re in form as a team, their last four weeks have pretty good and we know we need to be at our best to beat them,” he said.
“They’ve got some young guys into their team, but they’ve also got some senior players back from injury – (Andrew) Mackie, (Jimmy) Bartel and (James) Kelly – those guys have had some injuries and seem to be back and playing some really good footy.
“They seem to have a good mixture of those younger guys coming in and playing their role, and their senior guys playing good footy.”
The Hawks also have a number of senior players in strong form – including Burgoyne, who will play his 52nd consecutive AFL match this weekend.
The 32-year-old is averaging a shade under 20 disposals per game this season and was pivotal in helping the Hawks get over West Coast Eagles last week.
He said a key to his success had been putting faith others to help him be at his best each week.
“I just enjoy my footy, I enjoy playing my role, but off the field the fitness staff, the rehab staff and the medical staff do a fantastic job with all our players,” Burgoyne said.
“I check in with them at the start of the week, we form a plan for the week and I just do everything they say.
“Whether it’s extra sleep, extra physio, extra recovery – I do it and have faith – you have to put trust in other people and those guys have done a outstanding job with me.”
