Cale Hooker has put his hand up for the round one blockbuster against Hawthorn.

The All-Australian got through his first major hit-out of the pre-season in a VFL practice match against Geelong on Friday night.

Hooker kicked two goals in the first quarter and pulled down a number of strong marks.

If he is named in the side to take on the Hawks, it will be Hooker’s first game for the Bombers since round 23, 2015.

"I'm feeling really fit and I think I blew the cobwebs out, so I'll definitely be putting my hand up for this week," Hooker said.

"We've got the weekend off so I'll be doing a lot of recovery and just resting up this weekend, and then it'll be a normal week … leading into what's going to be a very exciting week for the club."

Essendon Performance Coach Hayden Skipworth was impressed by Hooker’s performance.

“He looked really good, he marked the ball well, he presented, he worked hard in defence so all signs are good,” Skipworth said.

“He had the one rest per quarter and got through unscathed which is even better.

“The first quarter he had a lot of supply, in the second and third quarter it didn’t come down a lot and then in the last quarter it came down a bit and he played well.

“When the ball was in his area he competed really well and looked really dangerous at times."

Skipworth said the coaching staff would closely monitor how Hooker recovers from the match. 

“Physically he has ticked everything off but it’s just how he pulls up from the game now,” he said.