THIRD-YEAR midfielder James Cousins has staked his claim to be part of Hawthorn's round one side with an eye-catching performance in Thursday's practice match victory over Carlton.

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The Hawks won the scratch match at Ikon Park in a canter, 12.5 (77) to 8.5 (53), with Jaeger O'Meara continuing his excellent pre-season with a dominant first half before sitting out the contest.

The Blues kicked four of the last five goals to add respectability to the scoreboard, but it was one-way traffic for much of the afternoon.

Ben Stratton also watched on after half-time, but took turns before that in manning Carlton forward Charlie Curnow, along with James Frawley, Kaiden Brand and James Sicily.

Cousins, 20, and another young onballer, Harry Jones, appear to be the frontrunners to take injured Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell's midfield spot.

Nineteen-year-old Jones had the early centre-square opportunities, but Cousins started the second term in the middle and went from strength to strength.

Cousins illustrated his work ethic to win possessions at will across all parts of the ground, including setting up a Paul Puopolo goal and missing his own long-range attempt.

He looked comfortable in the middle and around the stoppages and tackled typically hard, as he's become known for in his short career.

Hawthorn's midfield composition remains a talking point, with mainstays O'Meara, Liam Shiels and Isaac Smith needing support from the likes of Cousins and James Worpel, who impressed again with his elusiveness in the clinches.

The Worpedo was back in action at Ikon Park.



See how the youngster found tonight's praccy match.#TheMightyFighting pic.twitter.com/12mniqZFBl — Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) February 21, 2019

Cousins was the big selection winner on the day, but Jon Ceglar also firmly established that he will partner Ben McEvoy throughout the season in a two-man ruck combination.

"They're (Cousins and Jones) both inside bulls, have both had really good pre-seasons … and they're both going to get opportunities through the year," Ceglar told AFL.com.au post-match.

"They both know how to find the footy. It's unfortunate what happened to Tom (breaking his leg), but it does genuinely give one of those blokes an opportunity to prove themselves.

"They have both been standouts in the pre-season, along with Harry Morrison – the three young blokes – so that's good because it puts pressure on the other mids as well."

Isaac Smith in full flight. Picture: Getty Images



Dylan Moore and Conor Nash bobbed up with two goals apiece, joining Puopolo and Luke Breust with multiple majors, to push their own cases.

Moore, in particular, was lively in the first half, highlighted by a crumb then expert dribbling goal – and set up Nash for another major with a tidy foot pass.

Mitch Lewis evading a would-be tackler. Picture: Getty Images



Ceglar, sporting a bloodied left eye after a head knock late in the game, split ruck duties with McEvoy before the latter sat out the final term to give budding Hawk Ned Reeves his chance.

Reeves has trained with Hawthorn since the players returned from Christmas and hopes to replace the retired Will Langford through the pre-season supplemental selection period.

The 208cm big man looks a project player at this early stage, whereas Ceglar – after being dropped late last season – is feeling as good as ever, 18 months removed from his serious knee injury.

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"'Macca' and I spoke about keeping it even, now the new ruck rules have come in, and we both needed a bit of match conditioning and both needed to play forward," Ceglar said.

"It's the first pre-season in three or four that I've completed over 80 per cent of it.

"Last year I would have been about 35 (per cent), the year before I didn't do anything (and) the year before that it would have been about 50, 60, so it's probably the first time I've hit this time of the year fit.

"Not doing any pre-season caught up with me by the end of last year and I was in average form, but hopefully now I can keep on an upward spiral."

Blake Hardwick having a laugh while getting his head taped. Picture: Getty Images



Jarman Impey took a pair of courageous marks and excelled down back, while Morrison's composure was evidenced when he passed up a shot on goal to find Smith directly in front with a deft kick.

There were also some good signs from the Hawks' other Irishman, Conor Glass, who was solid in a defensive role and showed good strength in the contest.

Former captain Jarryd Roughead took a strong overhead mark in the opening term and proved a handful inside 50, but preferred to look for teammates rather than make his own scoreboard impact.

Mitchell (broken leg), Grant Birchall (knee), Tom Scully (ankle), Chad Wingard (calf), Jack Gunston (iliotibial band friction), Shaun Burgoyne (AFLX) and Jacob Koschitzke (finger) were among those not to play.

Hawthorn starts its JLT Community Series campaign against Brisbane at Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex on Sunday, March 3.

HAWTHORN 5.0 7.3 11.4 12.5 (77)

CARLTON 1.1 4.2 4.2 8.5 (53)

BEST: O'Meara, Ceglar, Impey, Worpel, Cousins, Sicily

GOALS: Moore 2, Nash 2, Puopolo 2, Breust 2, Worpel, Henderson, Sicily, Smith