The Cats have started to hit top gear on the training track with less than a month to go until they play Hawthorn in their first JLT Community Series match.

"From a conditioning point of view, December's all about volume and January's about intensity," the club's Director of Coaching, Simon Lloyd, told Cats Media after the recent open training session at Simonds Stadium.

"So the intensity's gone up, and we're focussing on all aspects of our footy at the moment, particularly our ball movement. We're doing a lot of work on that.

"But we've got to remember last year we really improved around our team defence, and we're chasing a couple of clubs in Sydney, GWS and the Bulldogs.

"So we're very clear about what's ahead of us and really excited as well, and we're keen to embrace the challenges ahead."

The Cats will take on the Hawks in Launceston on February 17.

"We've got to make sure it's not a rush," Lloyd said. "We're trying to stay composed and we're well planned and organised and really try to be quite precise the way we do things.

"But before you know it we're into it, so it's really exciting.

"The JLT Community Series will give us a really good opportunity to hone a lot of the things we've been working on, and also give us an opportunity to see what other clubs have been doing."