HAWTHORN will celebrate the 15^th anniversary of its partnership with Tasmania on Saturday, with skipper Luke Hodge proud of the strong relationship.

"It is not an easy thing to take home games interstate, as you need a lot of things to work well," Hodge told Fairfax Media on Thursday.

"You need commitment from the footy club and the players, and, more importantly, you need commitment from the Tassie people to come watch us play and open their arms to us.

"My first year was 2002, so right at the start of the connection of Tassie and it has gone from strength to strength.

"You can see by our formline that we love playing footy there, but we always try to give back to the Tassie people and give that little bit extra.

"The Tassie people have been very important to our football club and where we sit now."

The Hawks record in Tasmania is exceptional.

Currently, the side’s winning streak at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium is 18 matches, and a win against Carlton on Saturday would make it four from four at the venue for the fourth year running.

This time around, the Hawks take on a team coached by a Tasmanian – former Hawthorn assistant Brendon Bolton.

"I imagine there will be a few Tassie people who hope Bolts goes all right," he said.

"Playing a massive Melbourne team down there, they will have a lot of support, and they are playing with a lot of passion and energy.

"You saw that passion and energy when he (Bolton) was at Hawthorn, and speaking to a lot of Carlton supporters all they wanted to see was effort, and they have got that tenfold.

"Carlton move the ball very well, so getting the ball out of the midfield and getting the ball into our forwards first will be huge.

"The transition, how we move the ball from one end to the other, will be massive as well."