CAMERON Bruce will become the latest Hawthorn assistant to get behind the wheel of the premiers, deputising for Alastair Clarkson on Sunday.

Bruce, who played 234 matches for Melbourne and the Hawks, will take the role of senior coach in Hawthorn's NAB Challenge match with North Melbourne at Shepparton.

Luke Beveridge, Brett Ratten and Brendon Bolton, who coached the Hawks in five senior matches last season, all filled in for Clarkson last year.

Bruce coached the Hawks in a pre-season scratch match against Melbourne last year, saying it was an honour to coach the club in an official fixture.

"It's a credit to Clarko and the club for investing so much in the growth and development in us as coaches," he said.

Beveridge has since become Western Bulldogs senior coach, while Bolton was closely considered for senior coaching vacancies in the off-season.

Football operations boss Chris Fagan said empowering coaches was a key part of Hawthorn's mission.

"It's just like the players, we want our coaches to continue to improve; to not just find the trends in the game but establish trends, to be at the forefront " he told AAP.

"We spend time and money and effort on our coaches and trying to improve.

"A lot of our coaches have been to various courses or gone overseas to look at various successful teams and learn.

"This pre-season's been no different to that."

The Hawks will field a star-studded line-up against the Kangaroos, naming captain Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead, Cyril Rioli, Brian Lake and Shaun Burgoyne among their squad.

James Frawley will get another chance to impress after falling short of premiership standard in his first match for the Hawks last week.

Frawley followed in Bruce's footsteps by swapping the Demons for the Hawks in the off-season, but had an inauspicious debut.

Frawley coughed up the ball in defence with his first touch in the brown and gold in Hawthorn's loss to Collingwood.

Bruce revealed the former All Australian was suffering from a case of butterflies and would only improve.

"He would have loved to have performed to a better standard but he was aware of how nervous he was," he said.

"We know how long it takes for players to adjust to a new environment.

"He'll get another game this week with some really experienced defenders around him ... he'll be a really important player for us going forward."

The Hawks will also field 2012 No. 2 draft pick Jonathan O'Rourke for the first time since his arrival from Greater Western Sydney.

Newly drafted ruckman Marc Pittonet has replaced Sam Grimley in Hawthorn's 29-man squad.