EVERGREEN Hawk Shaun Burgoyne and star forward Cyril Rioli say they're feeling fresh ahead of 2016, after having their pre-seasons timed to the minute this summer by the club's fitness gurus.
And Burgoyne, who is on a streak of 59 consecutive games and on track to play his 300th game in round five, has no plans to be rested in his 16th season as the Hawks circle a fourth-straight flag.
"If I'm fit I want to play," Burgoyne said at a National Gallery of Victoria exhibition featuring iconic indigenous football stars.
"But it's going to be a long year, there's going to be a lot of injuries and we'll just see how things go. At the moment I'm feeling good and ready to get into games.
"Sixteen (seasons) is a big number, but it doesn't feel like that."
The silky-smooth utility, who is one of eight Hawks rated elite in Champion Data's AFL Prospectus, signed a one-year contract extension last May and said squeezing another season from his body in 2017 isn't out of the question.
"The reality is you're one injury away from the end of your career at this stage," the four-time premiership player said.
"I haven't really looked too far ahead in terms of if this will be my last year or not.
"It's a big decision to make, but one that I won't be rushing into.
"Potentially it could be one more year after this, or this could be it. The last couple of years I've really started to appreciate games and training and that's exactly how I'll go into this year."
Burgoyne plans to play "one or two" NAB Challenge matches leading into a round one showdown against Hawthorn's arch-rivals Geelong, while Rioli is also keen to face genuine opposition after getting through an intraclub match on Wednesday.
The Norm Smith medalist has flown through pre-season after overcoming his much-publicised hamstring issues last year.
Rioli's overhauled training program, involving hill sprints and more focus on lifting weights in the gym, has given him full confidence in his body.
"I think being positive and training the way I play and doing everything right, especially the little things, gives me a lot of confidence when I go out and play football," Rioli said.
"So if I do those right I have full confidence in my body.
"Pre-season's gone pretty well this year. We've done pretty similar things to last year.
"I'm ahead of where I was last year. I'm definitely enjoying pre-season a lot more and this one's gone around a lot quicker.
"We had an intraclub yesterday and that went pretty well, so hopefully I can transfer that into the coming games and throughout the season."
Rioli and Burgoyne attended a unique art exhibition featuring iconic indigenous footballers such as Nicky Winmar, Chris Lewis and Maurice Rioli at NGV on Thursday.
Rioli's high leap in the 2014 Grand Final has been immortalised on one of 20 hand-built terracotta pots in a celebration of art and football in the Our Land is Alive: Hermannsburg Potters for Kids display.
The triumphant images also include Michael Long kicking the goal of the year in 1993 and Nicky Winmar pointing to his skin at Victoria Park, with all 18 AFL teams depicted.
