But coach Alastair Clarkson would not reveal any names the day before the Hawks take on the side they defeated on that last day in September.
Trent Croad, Rick Ladson, Grant Birchall, Stephen Gilham and Campbell Brown have all had injury problems throughout the pre-season but Clarkson would not say how many of them would miss out on Friday night.
“You’re probably better off doing the research yourself. There’s a long list and I’m not going to go through them all now,” Clarkson said.
Ryan Schoenmakers and Matthew Suckling have both had impressive pre-seasons and could be in line for senior selection.
“We’ve got about 28 in the squad and we’ll finalise our selection this afternoon. We’ve got a couple of guys in contention who will play their first games for the footy club,” Clarkson said.
“That is exciting for our side. We’ve got a new crop of players who we expect to really challenge and play regular senior footy throughout the course of the year.”
Clarkson brushed off comments made last Sunday by Hawks president Jeff Kennett that Geelong players lacked the mental drive of Hawthorn.
“Sometimes he says things that are a little bit left of centre but you know exactly where he stands on things. On most occasions he’s right. On this occasion I don’t necessarily agree with him,” he said.
“You look through their side and they’ve got a side that is full of quality. You know exactly where you stand with him and we prefer to have him on our side than on the other side.”
But Clarkson said he was fine with Kennett voicing his opinion on football matters.
“You can’t expect to have a person of his quality in office at our footy club and not to be vocal on some issues to do with our state,” he said.
“Some are to do with footy and some are to do with issues outside of footy. We’re pretty comfortable with the role he plays here.”
