Hawks relish ‘perfect’ run to AFL finals

Rebounding defender Grant Birchall is relishing Hawthorn’s “dress rehearsal” for the AFL finals.

The undermanned Hawks face Fremantle in Sunday’s grand final rematch at Patersons Stadium, then fierce rivals Geelong at the MCG following a six-day break.

They finish the regular season with a match against Collingwood, also after a six-day interval.

“They’re the sort of games you want to play (to get ready for finals). It’s perfect,” Birchall told AAP.

“We’ve got three really good sides to look forward to, it’ll be a good dress rehearsal for finals.

“We all can’t wait.”

The ladder-leading reigning premiers are a good chance of facing both Geelong and Fremantle in the finals.

But come September they’re likely to field a significantly different side to the one that will go west this week, with Jarryd Roughead (suspended), Jack Gunston (knee) and Cyril Rioli (hamstring) among the key omissions.

Instead of focusing on individuals, Birchall preferred to look at the team – noting the 22 that do take the field in Perth should be cherry ripe.

“We’ve got a good eight-day break. That gives the boys a bit of time to get right and get ready for the Dockers,” he said.

“It’s going to be a really good contest. Two top sides going at it.”

Birchall termed his side’s last-start 50-point win over Melbourne “a little bit patchy”, but that overall he was happy with how the Hawks were tracking.

“We’re going along nicely. We’re getting the wins and that’s all we can do,” he said.

“Hopefully over the next few weeks we can really start to build some good momentum heading into finals.”

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