At least four players from the club will touch down in town on Friday.

At the time of writing, the club had still not selected those players to take part in the community camp.

Whoever they are, it will be hard to fill the shoes of home-grown NT star Cyril Rioli who was treated like a rock star during last year’s visit.

The Melbourne-based club has formed a close partnership over the years with the Big River Hawks.

AFL NT has even agreed to highlight one of the Hawks games so the Melbourne players can attend the girls and boys matches.

The Hawks are scheduled to take on the Darwin Buffaloes at Nitmiluk Oval on Saturday, February 9.

It will also provide an opportunity for the Under 18 Buffaloes players to meet the star Hawks.

Hawthorn’s starting ruckman Ben McEvoy was also a popular player during last year’s visit.

Each year a number of Katherine players pay a return visit to Melbourne and take in an AFL game during their visit.

During this year’s visit, the players already have a number of events scheduled – including the launch of a book written by local players, and visits to remote communities as well.

The club said it would likely release details of the players selected to make the trip to Katherine in the next week.

The players will also make a visit to Nitmiluk Gorge during their three-day visit.

They are also expected to visit a number of schools.

Hawthorn managed to make the finals in fourth place last year before being bundled out but has won 13 VFL/AFL premierships during their time in the elite competition.

The club is renowned as the only club having won premierships in each decade.

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