JOEL Selwood is "very confident" Tom Hawkins will remain a Geelong player beyond this season but isn't wasting time wondering if Patrick Dangerfield will join him as a Cat next year.
The Geelong captain said he was unsure if Hawkins' new contract would be finalised ahead of the season, which starts for them on Easter Monday against Hawthorn.
But he believes it won't be long until the star of the 2011 Grand Final signs up.
"I think he's extremely close, but that's up to Tom and his manager to work through," Selwood said on Wednesday.
"I'm very confident he'll still be a Geelong footballer."
Selwood said he could sympathise with the scrutiny Dangerfield was facing over whether he would remain at Adelaide or cross to Geelong, located near his native Victorian surf coast, when he became a free agent this year.
Crows name Dangerfield, Selwood back for Cats
But he said the Cats wouldn't focus on it, or roll out the red carpet when Dangerfield arrived at Simonds Stadium for Thursday night's NAB Challenge clash between the two clubs.
"I think the speculation is a bit unfair on not only the player in Patrick himself but also Adelaide footy club and Geelong footy club," he said.
"We've had it in the past with Gary Ablett and a number of other players who have been out of contract throughout that time and expected to go to other clubs.
"The only tour he'll be getting is behind one of our players or playing on one of our players.
"We've got a campaign in 2015 we've got to worry about now and that's all I'm worried about."
Selwood has been named to play against the Crows in his first competitive game of the pre-season after overcoming a minor knee injury.
"It's pretty good now, I just had a slight hiccup with the back of my knee and I took a couple of weeks out to try and get it right, but I've been pretty lucky apart from that over the pre-season period," he said.
"We're looking to play some decent footy at home before we start round one."
Selwood said Steve Johnson had ramped up his training in recent weeks and would get close to playing in the Cats' final NAB Challenge game.
