HAWTHORN forward David Hale says his side is firmly focused on getting their season off to a good start ahead of the Club’s season opener against the Magpies on Friday night.

Hale, who is due to play his 150th AFL game on Friday night says that his team won’t draw on the Club’s preliminary final loss to the Magpies.

“I highly doubt it, its been four or so months since it happened, so hopefully we can have a win,” he said.

The Hawks have a tough opening to the 2012 season, with matches against 2011 finalists Collingwood, Geelong, West Coast and Sydney all in the opening five rounds of the season, something that makes a successful opening integral.

“The more four points we can get early on, the better,” Hale said.

“If you can go in with four wins and two losses or five and one then you’re much better placed than if you’re two and four, so (it’s) very important to get a good start with the draw we’ve got.”

Hale says his team are looking forward to the start of the season-proper after a long pre-season that began at the end of 2011.

“You start training in November, so you finally get to the end of March and it’s a bit of a relief in a way, so everyone is looking forward to getting into it against very good opposition on Friday night,” Hale said.

The Hawks enjoyed a solid pre-season campaign, with wins over North Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle as preparation for the home-and-away season, with a positive opening to the season the Club's aim.

“The team has been playing pretty well so that’s something we’re excited about going into Friday and hopefully we can put it all together and have a win.”

Despite the Magpies enduring an indifferent pre-season, including a 77-point loss to the Crows, the Hawks are expecting the Magpies to come out firing on Friday night at the MCG.

“You can read into the pre-season what you want, when it comes to Round 1, that’s what everyone is focusing on, I’m sure they’ll be ready to go and hopefully we are as well,” Hale said.


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