The Hawks will be without triple premiership player Paul Puopolo when they meet the Magpies on Sunday.
Having pulled up sore after the Round 14 win over Adelaide, the small forward was given every opportunity to prove his fitness, but unfortunately didn’t recover as quickly as expected.
“Poppy was feeling some groin soreness straight out of the match,” says GM-Football Operations Jason Burt.
“We were hopeful that with such a lengthy break between games he’d be right to play, but unfortunately that isn't the case.”
“He’ll focus on getting his body right during the week, and we’re confident he’ll be ready to go against the Giants.”
Luckily for the Hawks, another triple premiership player will step straight into Puopolo's place with Ben Stratton finally back to full fitness after six weeks on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury.
“Stratts is a huge inclusion for us,” said Burt.
“The Pies have a number of dangerous small forwards, so his return will offer us some added flexibility with our match ups in defence.
“We were really pleased with the way our young backline stood up last week, and those young players will only benefit from the added leadership that Stratts’ brings.”
ROUND 15 TEAM
Hawthorn v Collingwood
MCG
Sunday 2 July, 3.20pm
B: Blake Hardwick, Kaiden Brand, Ben Stratton
HB: Ryan Burton, Grant Birchall, Luke Hodge
C: Isaac Smith, Tom Mitchell, Billy Hartung
HF: Luke Breust, Jack Gunston, Daniel Howe
F: Tim O’Brien, Jarryd Roughead, Will Langford
R: Ben McEvoy, Shaun Burgoyne, Liam Shiels
INT: Ricky Henderson, Taylor Duryea, James Sicily, Ryan Schoenmakers,
Emer: Kurt Heatherley, Dallas Willsmore, James Cousins
Changes:
IN: Stratton
OUT: Puopolo (groin)
