HAWTHORN star Cyril Rioli could return from a hamstring injury as early as Saturday when the Hawks clash with the Eagles at Aurora Stadium.
Rioli injured his hamstring against Sydney in Round 8 and was expected to miss up to a month of football but after resuming full training last Friday, the Hawthorn dynamo is well and truly in the mix to return for the Hawks.
General Manager – Football Operations, Chris Fagan confirmed Rioli could return after missing three weeks with the injury.
“At this stage, barring any setbacks we expect him to be putting his hand up for selection,” he told hawthornfc.com.au on Tuesday.
“Cyril has been flying on the track, he’s been back running at 100 per cent for the last week or so and started training with the footy last Friday.”
The Hawks are also likely to be bolstered by the inclusion of vice-captain Jordan Lewis for Saturday’s game.
He was a late withdrawal on Sunday with adductor soreness.
Hawthorn’s best clearance player this season, the Hawks missed his nous at the stoppages in the win over GWS at the MCG, losing the clearances 44-53.
He averages 5.8 per game.
“We expect him to be fit and available for selection – his was a precautionary measure we took to ensure he didn’t do any further damage,” Fagan said.
Cyril Rioli in action during Hawthorn training last week.
The news isn’t as good for David Hale, who is in doubt for Saturday’s game against West Coast with a corked quad.
Hale was subbed out in the third quarter of Sunday’s win and will need to pass a fitness test on Thursday before being declared fit to play.
“He’s (Hale) still pretty sore at this stage of the week,” Fagan said.
“Thursday’s training session will determine whether ‘Haley’s’ fit to play or not.”
Ben McEvoy and Ben Stratton, however, do no guarantees to return, with the duo also required to prove their fitness at training this week.
Stratton, who was withdrawn from the selected side on Saturday is also no guarantee to line up for the Hawks on Saturday and will also need to prove his fitness after suffering from adductor soreness.
“‘Stratts’ we’re not sure about – like Hale we’ll need to have a look at him at training on Thursday,” Fagan said.
McEvoy, meanwhile, who missed the 7-point win with a corked hamstring sustained in the loss to the Power will also need to train strongly on Thursday before the Hawks fly out for Launceston on Friday morning.
“He’s been a little bit slow with his corked hamstring, like Hale and Stratts we’ll need to see how he is on Thursday,” Fagan said.
