HAWTHORN midfielder Xavier Ellis will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks after straining the medial ligament in his knee in the VFL on Saturday.
Ellis was one of Box Hill’s best in their six-point win over Williamstown at Burbank Oval on Saturday afternoon until he sustained the injury.
When attempting to gather the football late in the final term, a player fell across Ellis’ knee causing damage to the medial ligament.
General Manager - Football Operations, Mark Evans said that it’s a big blow to the former number three draft pick but is hopeful that he can still have an impact later in the season.
“He’s having a terrible year to date (with injury),” Evans said.
“He’s got a medium to high grade strain of the medial ligament, and he’ll be on the sidelines for probably 6-8 weeks.
“Hopefully he can still play a strong role for us by the end of the season.”
Skipper Luke Hodge is listed as being one or two weeks away from a return, as Assistant Coach Adam Simpson flagged a possible return for Hodge via the Box Hill reserves, given that the Box Hill seniors have a bye scheduled next weekend.
Evans said that while the reserves side is definitely an option for the returning Hodge, a sol;id block of training could be more beneficial when considering his conditioning for a return to the AFL side.
“The Box Hill reserves is an option but I’m not sure we’ll choose that (option),” Evans said.
“I think there’d be much more sense in giving Luke another week of hard training, rather than tapering off ahead of a match and then recovering after it.
“It might be more sensible for him to have a real performance block of training.”
The Club is happy, however, with Hodge’s progress to date.
“He’s progressing really well at this stage,” Evans said.
Third-gamer Bradley Hill gathered 11 disposals and kicked two goals in a quarter of football on Sunday against Port Adelaide, providing Hawks fans with a glimpse of what the West Australian can offer.
Evans branded Hill the “super sub” but hinted that fans could possibly see the youngster play four quarters against the Lions at the MCG on Sunday.
“He picked up 11 possessions in a quarter,” he said.
“I think there’s some chance maybe he could come out of the substitute’s vest this week and maybe start on the ground, but we’ll wait and see at the end of the week.”
Round 12 Injury list
Max Bailey (wrist) - TBC
Chance Bateman (AC joint) - 1 week
Jarrad Boumann (appendix) - test
Xavier Ellis (knee) - 6-8 weeks
Luke Hodge (knee) - 1-2 weeks
Will Langford (shoulder) - 2-3 weeks
Broc McCauley (elbow) - 4-5 weeks
Michael Osborne (knee) - season
Alex Woodward (knee) - season
RELATED
Read the match report from Box Hill's win over Williamstown
