GEELONG star Tom Hawkins is aiming for a round one spot as he continues his recovery from off-season foot surgery.
Just a month after the Cats' premiership success last year, it was confirmed Hawkins would have surgery on a lingering foot injury and could face a delayed start to the season.
The three-time premiership player and five-time All-Australian, though, has his sights set on facing Collingwood when the Cats begin their flag defence on March 17.
LIST ANALYSIS Which club has the most All-Australians, top-10 picks?
"In my mind, I'm aiming to play round one. Whether or not that happens, I'm not sure," Hawkins said on Tuesday.
"I think the most important thing is I, and we at the football club, want to make sure we are doing the right thing for my longevity so I'm not going to rush back and play when I'm not ready.
"I think realistically, chance to play round one, but again, it's really hard to put a timeline because as my load increases I'll get more of an indication of whether that's a possibility."
Hawkins turns 35 this year, but enjoyed another stellar season in 2022, kicking 67 goals in 25 games.
INS AND OUTS Every club's full list changes ahead of 2023
The powerful forward said he always expected his recovery from foot surgery to be slow.
"Progressing really well. I've been hard at it behind the scenes," Hawkins said.
"We were always given an indication that it would be a bit slow so taking the right steps forward, continuing to increase my load, ran this morning in Geelong and made my way down here (to Warrnambool) post-training.
"Gradually building it up so everything is going really well, getting a lot of confidence and strength with the work we've done so continue to push forward and look forward to games which is not too far away."
The Cats will have a new captain in 2023 after the retirement of Joel Selwood, who had led Geelong inspirationally since 2012.
FIXTURE ANALYSED Which club has the hardest draw in 2023?
Hawkins believes whoever steps into the role will have plenty of support given the experience at the Cats.
"No closer to finding a captain to lead us into this season and beyond," he said.
"I'm sure we will follow the process that we haven't really had to follow for a while but we'll find our captain soon enough.
"The beauty of our list and position is that even though Joel's been an integral part of leading us, we've always had a lot of people around him to support so whoever that may be, which could be a number of players, is going to be supported very well by a lot of people."
