Ready for Pies test
Josh Gibson says Hawthorn is looking forward to testing itself against the team he rates as the best in the competition
JOSH Gibson says Hawthorn is looking forward to testing itself against the team he rates as the best in the competition.
After their 72-point win over the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, the Hawks have moved into the top four on the back of a six-game winning streak.
Gibson said Saturday's clash with Collingwood would give a good indication of where his club stood.
"We want to test ourselves against the best, and Collingwood have been up there all year, and they had another good win on the weekend," the 28-year-old said on Monday.
"It's going to be a really good measuring stick for us.
"They had that one slip-up out against Carlton a couple of weeks back, but they've had 11 wins out of 12 rounds, so they're playing really good footy.
"I think they're the best at the minute, and that's why I'm excited to play them this week."
Collingwood used Chris Tarrant in a forward role during its 31-point defeat of Geelong on Saturday night.
Alongside Travis Cloke and Chris Dawes, it gave Nathan Buckley's team three tall forwards to aim at.
Gibson said the Hawks would be equipped to handle the trio if Tarrant went forward again on Saturday.
"We had 'Gilly' (Stephen Gilham) come back in on the weekend, and that gave us the luxury of playing 'Schoey' (Ryan Schoenmakers) forward, so I guess if they went tall we could always bring 'Schoey' back down back," the defender said.
"But we'll just have to wait and see how we match up."
Hawthorn won the teams' earlier battle this season, by 22 points in round one.