BRETT Ratten offers an interesting twist to Friday night's Carlton-Hawthorn clash at Etihad Stadium as the former Blues coach goes up against his former club for the first time.
But Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson was fairly tight-lipped on Thursday when asked how Ratten, now an assistant coach with Hawthorn, had helped his new club in its preparations for the clash.
"He knows about their players individually, but Carlton is now a very, very different side now that Mick (Malthouse) is there, and we have to recognise the talent they have in their side and at the same time, play to the system we have," Clarkson said from a soggy and chilly Waverley Park on Thursday.
When asked what Ratten had brought to the club since his arrival, Clarkson said the match was about the Blues and the Hawks, and not Ratten.
"He's a great footy person, both as a player and a coach, and we're fortunate to have him on our side at the moment, but its more about us as a club against their whole club and hopefully, we get the job done tomorrow night."
Clarkson said Hawthorn's match up for the in-form Jarrad Waite, who kicked seven goals against Essendon last week, would depend on how high up the ground the Carlton forward played.
"That'll determine whether it's Brian Lake, Josh Gibson or Ben Stratton. Those three guys will roll around at different stages, but we know he's a very important player."
The Hawks have played well the week after their bye over the last few seasons, with Clarkson saying the key was to get the players back into their regular routines as quickly as possible.
The players returned to the club after a short break last Friday, a week ahead of the Carlton clash.
Every player available for Hawthorn trained on Thursday, including ruckman Max Bailey and forward Jack Gunston, who both missed the club's last game before the bye, against Melbourne.
Lance Franklin trained without the glove he wore against the Demons. "He's tried out the glove a couple of times and it's something he'll try again from time to time. Whether he does so tomorrow night will depend on the conditions, but with the roof closed it's just as likely that he won't."
Star forward Cyril Rioli also took part in training and ran laps afterwards, and while Clarkson said he would love to have him back for the clash against the Blues, Rioli will instead continue to build his fitness for a while longer before being considered for selection.
"It's really tempting when you see him out there kicking balls to bring him straight back in, but he had a serious hamstring injury and he's had a history with hamstrings, so while this one is unrelated because it was lower down, we just want to make sure we get it right.
"We've been fortunate that we've been able to win games without him and we just want to make sure that when he comes back he's got a good conditioning block underneath him and has that foundation so that he can play some good footy for us in the second half of the year," Clarkson said.
