HAWTHORN skipper Luke Hodge says birth certificates will matter for little as his side embarks on its 2016 campaign.
The Hawks will enter the season with the third-oldest playing list, behind Fremantle and North Melbourne, but Hodge says the Hawks’ most experienced players are as hungry as ever to get stuck into the season.
“One thing people worry about is age, (but) 'Clarko' (coach Alastair Clarkson) said to us a while ago 'we don't care about your birth certificate ... if you are still having an impact on the footy field and if you are still having an impact around the footy club, that is the main thing we are worried about'," he said at Thursday's Captains' Day.
"If you look at the form of the older guys over the last three years, they have been consistent. If you look at their form in the NAB Challenge this pre-season, they have been consistent.”
Hodge is one of four players currently aged over 30, alongside Sam Mitchell, Shaun Burgoyne and Josh Gibson.
The quartet have been among the Hawks’ most impressive pre-season performers, with Hodge himself tuning up for 2016 with 18 disposals in a half of football against North Melbourne last week.
"The media and the people outside the club are worried about age. But you look at someone like 'Swanny' (Dane Swan); it doesn't matter what age he is.
"We are in the same bracket. We are all still loving football. When the passion dies, that's probably when you give it up, or if the game goes past you. But at this stage I can't see that for any of the older guys at our footy club.”
With an Easter Monday blockbuster against Geelong Cats only 10 days away, the Hawks’ skipper said he was expecting a tough start to a tough season.
“We rate Geelong massively, we respect them for what they have done and the group they have brought in now," he said.
"Patty (Dangerfield) has been on fire (in the NAB Challenge), so we are focused on them (in Round 1) and it is a tough start with West Coast following them.
"This is probably as open a season as there has been.
"There are probably eight or 10 teams where you can build a case where they can win the premiership."
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