HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson says his team is raring to go ahead of their season opener at the MCG tomorrow night.

The Hawks battle 2011 grand finalists, and the side that sealed their fate in the Preliminary final last season, Collingwood, but Clarkson says his team want to begin the season on a positive note, regardless of its opposition.

“It’ll be a much anticipated contest, we’ve been looking forward to the start of the season, irrespective of whether it was Collingwood or any other team that we’d be scheduled against,” Clarkson said.

“It’s been a long summer and the boys are raring to go.”

The Hawks have a tough opening to the season proper, with matches against 2011 finalists Collingwood, Geelong, West Coast and Sydney  in the first five rounds.

It is something, however, that doesn’t phase the Hawks coach, as he believes that his side’s solid pre-season will hold it in good stead.

“Our conditioning team has done a great job in getting our squad ready for the start of the season,” he said.

“We’ve had good continuity from week to week, so we’re just looking forward to the chance to challenge ourselves against some of the best sides.

“We need to be close to our best (in the first five rounds) to be able to knock those sides off.”

The Hawks haven’t beaten their Round 1 opponents since Round 22, 2010, when the Club defeated the Magpies by 3 points.

“We know we’ve got some work to make up and a good reflection of how well we’ve worked over the summer will be indicated with our performance tomorrow night,” he said.

“We’re just keen on starting a new chapter and it’s a new opportunity for our football club.”

The Magpies are battling some well-documented injuries to key players, including captain, Nick Maxwell, but the Hawks are expecting the Magpies to come out firing tomorrow night.

“It’s not like Collingwood are going in with an underdone side, so we know what to expect,” he said.

“They’ve been a great side for the last two to three years in particular, so we’re expecting nothing less than their best performance tomorrow night.”

Defender Stephen Gilham will make his return from a knee reconstruction in a curtain raiser to the Richmond-Carlton match at the MCG tonight.

“He’s an important cog in our back end, and we’re hoping that he’ll give us some more depth in our back end as the year unfolds,” Clarkson said.

Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club’s digital media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre.