HAWTHORN has "a whole host of options" to turn to if spearhead Jarryd Roughead is suspended for next weekend's crucial clash against Fremantle, coach Alastair Clarkson says.
Clarkson refused to speculate in his post-match press conference about the consequences of Roughead's second-quarter report for tripping Melbourne's Dom Tyson at the MCG on Saturday.
The report soured the "uninspiring" 50-point win and leaves the forward in a precarious position ahead of the clash with the Dockers in Perth.
The Coleman Medal leader has 64.06 points hanging over his head from a one-game ban for a high bump on Sydney Swan Ben McGlynn in round eight.
"I haven't really seen it, so better off the authorities look at that rather than me," Clarkson said.
If Roughead is suspended, the Hawks will be without their two star tall forwards with Jack Gunston (medial ligament) expected to miss at least one more match.
"It wouldn't be ideal. We'll just wait and see what happens," Clarkson said.
"I'm not going to forecast what we're going to do. Because I don't even know if he's playing or not.
"We'll work it out on Monday or Tuesday once we know what's going on.
"We've got a whole host of options, and we'll see where we go with it."
The Hawks escaped unscathed on the injury front from the bruising encounter, despite some concerns over Luke Hodge, Shaun Burgoyne and Grant Birchall.
Hodge was substituted out of the game at three-quarter time after a brutal knee in the side he copped from Melbourne ruckman Mark Jamar in a marking contest.
"He was fine. We didn't sub him out for that reason," Clarkson said.
"He's had a pretty heavy program and we were well in control of the game at three-quarter time.
"We didn't have any injury concerns, so we just really needed to pick a guy who's had a really heavy program."
The Hawks skipped a win clear on top of the ladder after the victory but the Swans and Geelong could catch them on 15 wins after their games on Saturday night.
"It was a pretty scratchy and uninspiring game, but we should be pleased with a 50-point victory," Clarkson said.
"If you said that to us at the start of the game, we'd have been really pleased with that.
"We didn't think we played to capacity or to what we think we're capable of. Maybe that was because we played against a side that did really well at stopping us from playing our normal way.
"We move onto next week. That's all it is. Basic as it is, it's just about adding up the wins.
"We get ourselves ready for a trip to Fremantle next week."
The Hawks could regain full-back Brian Lake next round after his four-game suspension.
"We need to assess injuries, suspensions - a whole host of things we need to assess," Clarkson said.
"He (Lake) is available to play, so we'll make a call on that during the course of the week whether he plays at Box Hill or whether he comes back into our Hawthorn side."
