HAWTHORN could regain a host of stars for the Easter Monday blockbuster against Geelong but have lost Liam Shiels and Matt Spangher to injury.
General Manager – Football Operations, Chris Fagan, has declared ruckman Ben McEvoy and defenders Brian Lake, Ben Stratton and Ryan Schoenmakers fit for the clash of the two remaining unbeaten sides.
McEvoy has missed the past two weeks with a calf complaint but trained strongly on Tuesday and is ready to return.
“It was probably a conservative decision to keep him out for another week,” Fagan told hawthornfc.com.au
“He trained fully this morning and will be available for selection.”
Lake could return for his first game since last year’s premiership, after serving his three-game suspension and overcome a calf injury that hindered his pre-season.
Stratton has also been declared ready after two solid hit outs in the VFL, while Schoenmakers could play his first game in a year after a serious knee injury.
“All those guys are in line for selection this week,” Fagan said.
The possible inclusion of the trio would considerably boost Hawthorn’s already impressive defensive stocks and provide a welcome chop-out to undersized defenders Josh Gibson and Kyle Cheney.
With Geelong’s Tom Hawkins in good form and Hamish McIntosh, Dawson Simpson and Mark Blicavs also spending time forward, the bigger bodies of Lake and Schoenmakers in particular would prove critical in Hawthorn’s quest for back-to-back wins over the Cats.
The Hawks will be without key midfielder Liam Shiels for the Easter Monday clash though, after he injured his shoulder in the 99-point win over Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Shiels will miss at least 3-4 weeks after injuring his AC joint in a collision with Suns midfielder Jarrod Harbrow.
“He bravely played on in the second half of the game but didn’t pull up well,” Fagan said.
“He’s got a significant AC joint injury in his shoulder and he’ll be missing for probably 3-4 weeks.”
The news is similar for cult-figure Spangher, who was subbed out during the third quarter on Saturday night with an ankle injury.
He will miss up to a month of footy.
“He hasn’t pulled up all that well unfortunately, it looks like he’s going to spend at least four weeks on the sidelines - he’s done some significant damage to some ligaments in his ankle,” Fagan said.
“It’s a bit of a blow for Matt because he was in some great form and he’s had a battle with injuries in the past, it’s another little stumbling block for him.”
Bradley Hill and Will Langford have both been declared fit for Monday despite suffering bruising knocks during the victory over Gold Coast.
