Tom Mitchell

Mitchell will come up against one of his fellow premier contested ball winners when he goes head-to-head with Carlton’s Patrick Cripps on Sunday. Cripps is one of only three players in the competition who is averaging more contested possessions than the Hawthorn ball magnet this year. Mitchell delivered a three-Brownlow vote performance in his last outing against Carlton, recording 44 possessions, seven tackles and 11 clearances.

Liam Shiels

Coming off arguably one of the best games of his career, Liam Shiels is in hot form. His 12 inside 50s were a career-high, while he has only beaten his tallies of disposals and contested possessions once previously throughout his 10 seasons. Interestingly, Shiels hasn’t encountered the Blues since 2015 and they are the side the 27-year old has played the least of every side in the competition, having only played against them five times across his 178 games.

Ben Stratton

The Hawks will be without a key member of their back six in James Sicily, so the remaining defenders will have a big task on their hands trying to contain dangerous Carlton forwards such as Charlie Curnow. Stratton may be given the task on the young Blue. The premiership defender has been in impressive form in 2018 and is currently ranked 17th in the league in pressure acts, averaging 6.94 a game. Stratton will need a big game if the depleted Hawks are to do away with the lowly Blues.

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Charlie Curnow

Charlie Curnow has announced himself as a star of the game in 2018. Averaging 14.6 possessions and just shy of two goals per game, Curnow has been a force for the Blues this year and one player that continues to fill the Blues faithful with hope. Despite his side having lost by an average of 42.5 points over the last month, the 21-year old forward has booted 11 goals over those four weeks. Curnow has kicked 13 goals more than the next best Blue and figures as the primary threat if his side were to upset the Hawks.

Kade Simpson

On the surface it seems preposterous, but Kade Simpson may well be amidst his best season yet at the age of 34 and in his 16^th year in the league. Simpson is averaging career-high disposal (27.1) and rebound 50 (5.4) numbers. In fact, only six players across the competition are averaging more defensive 50 exits per game than the veteran. Simpson is the Blues’ preferred ball-user out of the back half and the more the ball is not in his hands, the happier the Hawks will be.