noosa hawk mad
Norm Smith Medallist
http://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/4742/newsid/72896/default.aspx
By Matt Burgan 4:53 PM Thu 05 March, 2009
HAWTHORN could field seven Box Hill Hawks for its NAB Challenge clash against Adelaide in Berri on Saturday, with many players unavailable through injury.
Box Hill Hawks players Ed Curnow, Sam Gibson, Sam Iles, Steve Kenna, Lukas Markovic, Lachlan McQueen-Miscamble and Ben Smithwick have all been called into the Hawthorn squad.
Hawthorn football operations general manager Mark Evans said Hawthorn had to head down this road for several reasons.
"The squad will come down to 22 or 23, but we spoke to Adelaide at the start of the week and applied to the AFL to consider the circumstances we were in, which is extraordinary. It's on the back of a reduced length in pre-season," Evans told hawthornfc.com.au.
"Quite a few players have had surgery and they were originally planned for round one. There might be a couple of those players who miss the start of the season.
"Some have niggles, but it's also about the management of players. Some players couldn't be risked this week. The difference for us and other clubs is that we don't have the depth of players available underneath to replace the [injured] players with."
Evans said the club could ill afford to lose further players.
"Hopefully we can get players back before losing others. That's what will determine how strong we can be in the first part of the year," he said.
Although Hawthorn was knocked out by Carlton in last weekend's NAB Cup, Evans said the situation would've been the same had the Hawks made it through to the semi finals.
"We would've been in strife if it had have been a NAB Cup match. To go and play in a semi-final with such a reduced squad – would've put us in an unusual position," he said.
"Every player we had on the bench [towards the end of the match] last week had an injury or a condition where they had to get off the ground. We had another seven or eight players, who I would've liked to have taken off at that stage, because of their management or condition or knocks that they copped.
"We were pushing players like [Chance] Bateman deep into the forward line and because he could run around, we left him out there. And that wasn't necessarily the greatest management of him towards the end of the match."
Evans said the only positive to come out of the club's unfortunate run with injury was the fact many youngsters and rookie-list players were now exposed at AFL level.
"It's going to be good to see how they handle this weekend without the depth and experience of others around them," Evans said.
"The next couple of weeks has become really important for us to consolidate where we are with these niggles and the management of players, so we can get a competitive squad for round one.
"A lot of the young players are really excited [about the opportunity]. They're starting to think: 'If I can perform well here, I could move up the board a bit'."
Key defenders Trent Croad and Stephen Gilham remain highly unlikely for round one, with Chance Bateman, Grant Birchall and Campbell Brown all still in the mix for the season opener against Geelong.
Last year's Norm Smith Medallist Luke Hodge has been groomed for round one, with midfielder Xavier Ellis set to be sidelined in the early stages of the season.
