Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson says he is hopeful Chad Wingard will return to optimal form in the second half of the year.
Wingard has been sidelined with hamstring tightness across the past fortnight but is set to make his return to the Hawks line-up against Port Adelaide on Saturday.
It will be the first time Wingard has faced his former team, a club he represented in 147 games across seven seasons.
“He is ready to go,” Clarkson said.
“He and Frawley were probably ready to go last week; we just didn’t want to take the risk.
“They’ve both had soft tissue troubles, so we erred on the side of caution and hopefully they’re right to go and they can play a role for us this weekend.”
The four-time premiership said the 25-year-old had faced a challenging initiation to his brown and gold career, with calf and hamstring troubles hindering his ability to have a clean run.
“He’s had an injury-interrupted pre-season and first part of the year.
“But we’re hopeful those troubles are behind him now and he can get going in the second half of the year.
“Only time will tell, but this is an important step for him to get back into the side and hopefully play some good footy for us.”
