BEST and fairest winner Josh Gibson says the Hawks are ready for the NAB Challenge despite a shorter-than-usual pre-season.

As outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, players are entitled to a leave period of eight weeks following the date of the last match contested by the Club, with first-to-four year players returning two weeks earlier.

The Club’s younger players returned for pre-season training on 18 November and the senior players on 2 December – leaving a total of 11 weeks to prepare for the first NAB Challenge match against Brisbane on 13 February.

But Gibson says the fact the players returned for the start of pre-season in excellent condition following off-season of premiership celebrations, has allowed the Club’s fitness staff to build on an already solid base.

“It was a big focus of ours to put in a lot of work into our preparation over the off-season,” the defender told hawthornfc.com.au

“With the rules having changed with the amount of training the clubs can do, your training window is slightly smaller so it was a real credit to the guys having looked after themselves in the off-season to come back in good shape.

“It has allowed our fitness guys to get some really good work into us in the smaller period.”

Before Christmas, the entire playing group trained together for a week before heading to South Africa for an intense, two-week training camp.

The group were challenged both mentally and physically for the duration, before returning to Melbourne for a break over the Christmas and New Year period.

But there were no Hawks indulging, returning fit and ready for training to heat up in the lead-up to the NAB Challenge in the first week of January.

Now, with the pre-season competition just around the corner, the coaches and fitness staff have moved away from running sessions at the Ricoh Centre to skills and match practice in preparation for match-play.

Gibson says excitement is building.

“It has been a really good pre-season, obviously we’ve had some fantastic running blocks but now as we’re starting to progress into games, you ease the running back,” he said.

“All the boys are excited and looking forward to games.”

Hawthorn plays Brisbane in the NAB Challenge on 13 February at Etihad Stadium before heading to Tasmania to take on North Melbourne at Aurora Stadium on 21 February.