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Geelong forward Tom Hawkins doesn’t believe his six-goal mauling of Port Adelaide earlier this year will give him or the Cats a psychological edge in next week’s AFL finals opener.
Hawkins bullied the Power’s defence at Metricon Stadium as the Cats claimed a comprehensive 60-point round-12 win.
While that display likely left Port defender Tom Clurey with sleepless nights, Hawkins expects a completely different contest when the teams face off at the Adelaide Oval on 1 October in a qualifying final.
“We played really well as a collective. Our midfield were outstanding. Our defenders were really solid, they did a wonderful job playing on Charlie (Dixon), and the rest of their forward line who are a pretty dynamic bunch,” Hawkins said.
“We’ll take confidence from what we’ve done but it’s going to be a different venue … there’ll be a lot of different parts of the game. A few personnel changes.
“We’ll take our time, be really clear with the way that we want to play and how we think we can beat them.”
Having claimed the 2020 Coleman Medal with 42 majors this year, ten ahead of Port forward Dixon, Hawkins is gearing himself up to face the minor premiers at their home ground.
The Cats have made just one trip to South Australia this year, notching a 28-point win over Adelaide in Round 13.
Hawkins, who kicked three goals against the Crows, has also shrugged off his reaction to a free-kick awarded against him for raising his knee in a marking contest late in the Cats’ hard-fought round-18 win over Sydney on Sunday.
The 32-year-old was clearly filthy with the call at the time, launching a spray at the umpire which was caught on broadcast microphones, but said he’d moved on.
“If we as a club feel that there might be a trend in the way the game’s sort of adjudicated we’ll look into it but I certainly haven’t,” Hawkins said.
“The emotions of playing, you get frustrated out there sometimes at the decision … if it’s happening a few times we’ll sort of look into it.”
© AAP
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