Hawthorn are meeting the AFL’s start from hell with a stony face.
The Hawks are refusing to publicly criticise their brutal opening to next season, where the first seven games are all against this season’s fellow finalists.
Along with North Melbourne and Collingwood, Hawthorn have the toughest fixture of the likely top-eight contenders.
The first two rounds will be particularly testing for Hawthorn, who suffered an upset grand final loss to Sydney.
Hawthorn start with an Easter Monday blockbuster against arch-rivals Geelong, who they have not beaten since the 2008 grand final.
These are always fierce clashes and Hawthorn only have a six-day turnaround before playing West Coast away.
If that was not hard enough, round one is split over two weekends and the Eagles have a western derby against Fremantle on the opening Saturday night.
That means while the Hawks must cope with a six-day break, the Eagles have a week off before round two.
But once the Hawks saw their fixture and jaws stopped dropping, they resolved that they would present a strong public front, with no outcry from the club.
“It’s probably the start from hell, but the club will roll up its sleeves and accept the challenges,” club chief executive Stuart Fox said.
Fox also pointed out that the Hawks had a tough fixture at the start of the 2012 season, with all five games against teams who made the finals.
They were 2-3 and went on to finish minor premiers with a 16-6 record.
The Hawks will probably take a 4-4 or 5-3 start next season.
Fox said there are plenty of positives to their fixture, with some good MCG home games and an even spread of Launceston matches.
Another anomaly is the round-13 match against West Coast at Etihad Stadium, on a night where the MCG is free.
Fox said that was a result of the AFL’s contract with Etihad Stadium.
“It simply has to do with some of the restrictions on the AFL,” Fox said.
“They’ve clearly articulated it’s our turn.”
Melbourne have expressed disappointment about their round-18 home game against North Melbourne being scheduled for Etihad Stadium.
“It isn’t ideal for our members and it is our stated, clear preference not to play home games at Etihad Stadium,” said Demons chief executive Cameron Schwab.
Carlton will also host the Hawks at Etihad Stadium in round 12 – a game that would appear to be better suited to the MCG.
The AFL released the fixture on Wednesday and chief operating officer Gil McLachlan said they remain determined to eventually give two byes to each team during the season.
The current format is 22 games per team with one bye.
The AFL would prefer to not have the split first round, meaning they could introduce the second bye, but the availability of the MCG because of cricket commitments remains a big issue.
McLachlan said they would continue to negotiate with government and Cricket Australia over the issue.
“We recognise that priority one, two and three for our players is to get a second bye,” he said.
“I don’t know if we’re any closer, but the lines of communication are open and I hope something sensible can be worked out.”
