HAWTHORN skipper Luke Hodge will miss Friday night’s clash against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured thumb.
Hodge was booked in for surgery on Monday to have a screw inserted to repair the fracture, with the procedure deemed a success.
The Hawks Captain will miss at least a week, but that could extend to two matches depending on how he recovers.
He suffered the injury while attempting to lay a tackle in the final quarter of Saturday’s 41-point loss to Richmond.
Head of Coaching and Development, Chris Fagan says the one to two week break will provide Hodge with the opportunity to freshen up ahead of the finals series.
“He’s pulled up well from the surgery,” Fagan told hawthornfc.com.au
“He had a small fracture in there, had a little screw put in and our expectation is that he’ll miss at least one week and tops, two.
“It’s a good chance for ‘Hodgey’ to give his body a rest, he’s played 17 games in a row and you never like not to have him in the team, but it’s probably timely coming into finals.”
A possible replacement for Hodge could be midfielder Liam Shiels, set to return from an ankle injury this weekend.
Shiels hasn’t played since Round 14, when he injured ligaments in his ankle in the win over Brisbane in Tasmania.
While Shiels is a confirmed starter this weekend, Fagan says the Club is yet to determine whether that return will be in the AFL or with the Club’s VFL affiliate, Box Hill.
“He’ll be back this week, we’re not sure at this point in time whether it’ll be at Box Hill or in the AFL team,” he said.
In more good news for the Hawks, defender Grant Birchall will return next week from a knee injury that has kept him sidelined since Round 12.
Birchall injured his posterior cruciate ligament against the Blues at Etihad Stadium, but will resume full training this week and return next weekend.
The story is the same for injury-prone utility Xavier Ellis, also on track to return from a calf injury next weekend.
“Both are on track to play the following week,” Fagan said.
“‘Birch’ is doing a great running program and he’s back into full skills this week.”
Veteran defender Brent Guerra is also available for Friday night’s game against the Saints despite finishing Saturday’s match on the bench with cramp.
“He got cramp, it was late in the game and there was no point in bringing him back on. He’ll be available for the team this week,” Fagan said.
