Local names Taylor Duryea and Jonathon Ceglar have returned to the Border for the Cup plenty of times, but now Wodonga's biggest race has a bigger following at Hawthorn than ever before.

“We had four up here last year, we've brought nine up this time,” Duryea said.

“I love country racing, it's always good fun and as a local boy it’s good to get back to town every now and then.”

With a new season right around the corner and more than a few changes in the Hawthorn line-up to adjust to, Duryea said the squad was looking forward to getting stuck into pre-season training. 

“This time of year, you've had a good break and you start to feel pretty excited about getting back with the team,” he said.