James Sicily returns to Hawthorn’s line up this week, after serving a one-match suspension for misconduct against North Melbourne’s Shaun Atley.
Addressing the media on Friday morning, Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson says he hopes his young defender can learn and grow from recent events.
“He’s very aware of what we require as a side,” said Clarkson.
“We’ve played six games and he’s been sitting in the stands for two of them.
“He’s an important player for our side, and he’s worked really hard to get himself in a position that he can have influence on games.
“So him sitting in the stands isn’t any good for him and it’s certainly not any good for us.”
But Sicily is not the first player to let his temper boil over on the field, with Clarkson likening the defender’s behaviour to a younger version of himself.
“He’s learning what his capabilities are and he needs to learn how to cope, but he’s got a coach that wasn’t too much different at that age either.
“It just takes a little bit of time to work yourself out and mature as a person, as a teammate and as a club man, and hopefully this has been a really good learning curve for him.”
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