FRIDAY night’s clash against Collingwood at the MCG is a rehearsal for the finals according to Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson.
Coming off a stunning 23-point win over Geelong last Saturday night in which the Hawks booted 10 unanswered goals, there’ll be no let up in form from the Hawks in Round 23.
Despite already securing a home final Clarkson says capitalising on momentum is critical, particularly heading into this year’s finals series.
“It’s a game we need to win,” Clarkson declared on HawksTV’s #ChatToClarko segment on Wednesday.
“We need to rehearse all the things we do in our game style to continue to play good footy.
“We want to have the continuity of good form and the consistent contributors leading into finals.”
The Hawks will face an injury-ravaged Collingwood who have lost a number of key players including Travis Cloke, Dayne Beams, Dane Swan, Ben Reid and Alan Toovey.
But after they recorded a stirring win over GWS last Saturday despite a mounting injury list, Clarkson knows Collingwood will present a challenge to his Hawks on Friday night.
The Hawks have injury concers of their own, however, with defender Matt Suckling almost certain to miss the clash with a knee injury.
“We’re expecting it to be a tough contest because we know they’re a proud club with a really strong history,” he said.
“We’re going to go into the game like we do every other and that’s to try and get the win to take some good winning form into finals.”
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says his team hasn’t given up hope on playing finals despite a 19-man injury list.
Still a chance to make the eight if the Pies defeat the Hawks on Friday night and results go their way, Buckley says he and his team are determined to knock off the Hawks on Friday night.
"We set an aim of playing finals at the beginning of the year and we've got the opportunity to do it, we're a couple of days away from having that chance," Buckley told media on Wednesday.
"We're still 100 per cent focused on that endeavour.”
The Pies could regain at least two players, with leading goal kicker Jamie Elliott and Heritier Lumumba both training strongly on Wednesday.
