HAWTHORN will be bolstered by the inclusion of defender Ben Stratton for Friday night’s blockbuster against Sydney at ANZ Stadium according to General Manager – Football Operations, Chris Fagan.
Stratton, who was a late withdrawal from Saturday’s 145-point win over St Kilda with a corked hip trained strongly on Tuesday morning and appears set to make the trip to Sydney to take on the Swans.
“He was almost right to play but we took the conservative approach,” Fagan told hawthornfc.com.au
“He trained this morning and he’s very much up for selection this week.”
The inclusion of the dour and consistent defender will be a welcome one following the injury to fellow defender Brian Lake after it was revealed on Monday the Norm Smith Medallist will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a calf injury.
With the Swans likely to regain gun forward Kurt Tippett and potentially Lance Franklin from injury to join Adam Goodes and Sam Reid in the forward line, the Hawks will need Stratton’s height in defence.
The Hawks also look set to regain promising midfielder Will Langford for the clash after he missed Saturday’s win with a back complaint.
The youngster, who has played as a negating midfielder so far this season training also strongly on Tuesday and appears set to return after one week on the sidelines.
“He had a little bit of a back strain but again, it wasn’t anything serious,” Fagan said.
“He had had a heavy campaign up until that point so we made the decision to rest him last week.
“He was up and about at training this morning, so he’s looking forward to hopefully coming back into the team.”
The news is also good for veteran midfielder and dual premiership player Brad Sewell, who is expected to resume in the VFL next week.
Sewell hasn’t played for the Hawks yet this season after injuring his hamstring in the final pre-season game against Melbourne in March and then aggravating it playing in the VFL a month ago.
But, with Hawthorn having a scheduled bye next week, Sewell is expected to return for the Club’s VFL affiliate, Box Hill.
“He’s had a good block of training the last 2-3 weeks and he’s very close to playing again,” Fagan said.
“We expect that he’ll line up for Box Hill not this weekend, but next.”
Liam Shiels (shoulder) and Matt Spangher (ankle) are also expected to return after next week’s bye.
As confirmed on Monday, Sam Mitchell will miss eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
