ASSISTANT Coach Brett Ratten says winning the midfield battle will be critical in the Easter Monday blockbuster against Geelong if the Hawks are to record back-to-back wins over the Cats.

With 10 of the last 12 matches between the two sides decided by 10 points or less, Ratten says winning the one-on-one contests and key moments will be crucial in what looms as another tight contest between the two sides.

“We need to win the footy,” Ratten told hawthornfc.com.au

“If Geelong can control the game with the ball, they’re a hard team to defend because they use the ball really well, as we do, so that part of the game will be very important.

“It might come down to some 50-50 contested ball situations that actually determines who is winning there ball.

“It might work out to be 25 big moments in the game so we need to win our fair share.”

That means the ruck battle between Hawk pair Ben McEvoy and David Hale and Cats Hamish McIntosh, Dawson Simpson and Mark Blicavs could decide who gets the upper hand in the middle.

But with the likes of Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis, Luke Hodge and Shaun Burgoyne going head-to-head with Joel Selwood, Steve Johnson and James Kelly, there will undoubtedly be period of dominance for both sides and the ability to capitalise on that will be crucial.

“The ruck duels will be very important in terms of who can get their hands on the ball and then distribute it to the midfielders,” he said.

“At ground level it’s going to Selwood, Stevie Johnson and Cameron Guthrie who’s been doing a run with role and that group of men versus our boys in trying to get their hands on the ball.

“Whoever can control that battle early will give the forward momentum with the football and then put the opposition’s backline under enormous duress.

“We think that the boys we’ve had around the ball have been good with Mitchell, Burgoyne and co so we’ll get a few numbers there and challenge those guys around the stoppages and see who wins that battle.

“That will determine who gets the ball in and if we can get the supply going our way, then that will put them under pressure but if they do, it’ll put our backs under pressure.”

At Hawthorn there is no reliance on one or two players to kick the goals, something Ratten hopes will give the Hawks a significant advantage on Monday.

In their opening four matches, the Hawks have had 10 or more individual goal kickers and it has been the contribution from the midfield that has set their scoring power above all others.

Luke Breust and Jarryd Roughead have each kicked 12 and Jack Gunston 10, while Cyril Rioli, Matt Suckling and Isaac Smith have kicked six.

The Hawks are ranked number one in the league for points for and have kicked 108 more points than Geelong in the opening four matches.

Ratten says that is one area in which Hawks will aim to capitalise.

“We want to challenge Geelong in who they try and stop, there’ll be no real focuses in regards to our forwards, there’ll be an even spread across there and the midfielders will add to that as well,” he said.

“We’ve had 10 or 11 goal kickers in the last few weeks, which will challenge Geelong and if we can get those numbers again, we’ll kick a good score.”