BEN Stratton and Brad Sewell won’t play in Hawthorn’s season opener against Brisbane on 22 March, after the duo suffered hamstring injuries in Saturday’s 110-point win over Melbourne.

Stratton, who was playing his second game of the year impressed in his usual role across half back in just over two quarters of footy, before his day ended prematurely.

Despite it being a minor strain, General Manager – Football Operations, Chris Fagan ruled him out of the Round 1 clash at Aurora Stadium.

“It’s low grade but we might not see ‘Stratts’ reappear until probably Round 2 or Round 3,” he told hawthornfc.com.au on Tuesday.

Sewell, a 190-game veteran who has had an outstanding pre-season, has also been ruled out of his team’s Round 1 clash.

“We expect at this point in time he won’t be available for Round 1 – we’ll see how it goes from that point on,” Fagan said.

Hawthorn made light work of Melbourne at Casey Fields on Saturday, with spearhead Jarryd Roughead booting six goals to lead his side to victory, while Sam Mitchell was dominant in the midfield and youngster Will Langford again pushed his case for senior selection in Round 1.

The win capped off an impressive pre-season for the Hawks, who won all three trial matches ahead of the home-and-away season, with victories over Brisbane (131 points), North Melbourne (56 points) and Melbourne.

Last year’s premiers are in good shape heading into the start of the season proper.

“I think everyone is now looking forward to the start of the season. There’s a bit of confidence in the group because we’ve been able to play well,” Fagan said.

“We’ve got a good list of players available – most of them have completed a great pre-season in terms of time on track and those important statistics.”

Hawthorn plays Brisbane in Round 1 at Aurora Stadium on Saturday 22 March.