HAWTHORN could regain three stars for Friday night’s clash with Carlton at the MCG but the trio will need to prove their fitness at training on Thursday.
David Hale (corked quad), Ben McEvoy (corked hamstring) and Ben Stratton (adductor) all missed Saturday’s 44-point win over West Coast through injury but could bolster the Hawks if they pass fitness tests at the team’s final training session on Thursday.
Hale was injured and subbed out in the win over the Giants last week, while McEvoy was injured and subbed out in the loss to the Power the week previous.
Stratton, meanwhile, was withdrawn from the selected side to take on GWS the day before the clash at the MCG.
All three trained at the Ricoh Centre on Tuesday.
“All three are a decent chance,” General Manager – Football Operations, Chris Fagan told hawthornfc.com.au
“They all trained pretty well today so the good thing is, they’re getting better.
“McEvoy is probably the strongest at this point in time but we won’t know until Thursday.”
Fagan dispelled speculation that star forward Cyril Rioli suffered a knee injury before being subbed out in the final quarter of Saturday’s win, declaring the move was pre-planned.
Rioli returned from a three-week layoff due to a hamstring injury and starred in three quarters for the Hawks with 16 disposals and a goal.
The star Hawk had an ice pack on his knee, however, as he watched the final quarter on the bench but Fagan said he will play against the Blues on Friday night.
“The plan was always to play Cyril for three quarters if we could and it worked out that way for us,” he said.
“That (ice pack) was just a bruise from a knock – he’s come out of the game in great condition.”
In more good news for the Hawks, gun midfielder Sam Mitchell could return ahead of schedule from his hamstring injury, now listed as being just three weeks away.
Mitchell has been back running for three weeks.
“He’s had a pretty strong running program for the last three weeks and has been back running near full pace,” Fagan said. “He’s on track to return in about three weeks.”
The news isn’t good though for youngster Billy Hartung who will miss 4-6 weeks with an elbow injury.
Subbed on for Rioli in the opening minutes of the final quarter on Saturday, Hartung hurt his elbow in a tackle and was helped from the field immediately by club doctors.
“He caught his elbow in an awkward position and damaged the medial ligament,” Fagan said.
“He’ll miss somewhere between 4-6 weeks.”
It’s a blow for the youngster who has acquitted himself well at AFL level and added outside run to the Hawthorn side since making his debut against the Saints in Round 7.
It was also revealed on Tuesday that Jed Anderson will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery on his injured shoulder.
