There’s never been more on the line in the annual Easter Monday clash than there is now when the Hawthorn Hawks host the Geelong Cats at the MCG in Round 4 of the 2017 AFL Season.
The tale of the tape could not be more different for these two sides heading into this game – Hawthorn are incredibly 0-3, while Geelong are a comfortable 3-0.
The Hawks took losses to the Essendon Bombers and Adelaide Crows in their first two weeks of the year, not ideal, but not entirely unexpected either.
However, they then got slammed at the hands of the Gold Coast Suns last week and put in an utterly uncompetitive performance that shocked the football world.
You can bet they will have been taking a hard look at themselves this week, and how they bounce back from that debacle may determine the result in this game.
The Cats on the other hand have beaten everyone they’ve met so far this year though not always in convincing style.
They had solid wins over Fremantle and Melbourne in Rounds 1 and 3, but were nearly pipped by North Melbourne in between those two.
They don’t appear to have found their top gear yet by any means, though if the Hawks don’t lift they won’t need it for this game.
Hawthorn have made several changes, dropping Brendan Whitecross and Teia Miles, and losing Jaeger O’Meara to a minor knee concern. They have recalled Billy Hartung, Tim O’Brien and Blake Hardwick.
Geelong have only one change, dropping Lincoln McCarthy for Nakia Cockatoo.
Although there’s some threat of the Hawks bouncing back here, with O’Meara out it’s fair to ask whether or not they have the star power to go head to head with Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood.
The Cats to win at $1.40 looks like decent odds in that case, with a margin too difficult to confidently predict given the potential variance in Hawthorn’s level of performance.