HAWTHORN ruckman Simon Taylor won’t be viewing stats or tactical plans when he gets aboard his flight for Perth this weekend.

When the Hawks jet off for their round two clash against Fremantle, he’ll be crunching numbers of a different kind. The 25-year-old has a financial markets exam on Monday as part of his Applied Finance masters degree.

“It’s been a busy few weeks with football starting and uni, it is going to be an interesting few days ahead,” Taylor laughs.

As numbers go, Hawthorn’s are looking better this weekend.

They were missing four big names last weekend due to suspension and this week welcome back Luke Hodge and Campbell Brown for their clash with Freo.

And although they’ll miss Trent Croad with a wrist injury he sustained at the weekend, the increased availability in personnel means Taylor should have his partner Robbie Campbell back in the ruck division after Campbell was forced to cover in defence last weekend.

But Taylor insists he didn’t mind shouldering the ruck responsibility himself against the Demons, with a little help from Jarryd Roughead.

“It really gave me an opportunity to play some good game time in the middle of the ground which I thoroughly enjoyed,” Taylor said. “I think Roughy enjoys it too. Having the chance to really try and influence the game is good. It shows that I’ve the confidence to do it, if it’s required again down the track.”

Taylor certainly had an influence in one of his best games for the club in the 104-point drubbing of Melbourne. But he said the Hawks weren’t attaching much significance to the round one demolition.

“We know ourselves that it’s only one game and it’s only round one. We were on the receiving end last year in round one (versus Brisbane) when we ended up playing very poorly but then came back to make the finals.

“You can’t read too much into early season form.”

With Taylor commanding the ruck department, the forward division has attracted widespread praise with ‘Buddy’ Franklin kicking six goals and debutants Cameron Stokes and Cyril Rioli making an immediate impact in their crumbing forward roles.

“It’s great to have crumbers for our big players up there. Their forward line pressure was really good as well. It really adds an extra dimension to our team structure,” Taylor said.

Also making an impressive debut for the Hawks was new recruit and former Port Adelaide dynamo Stuart Dew who managed to get his name on the score board as well with two majors.

Taylor said he was glad that Dew excelled in his first outing after his much scrutinised recruitment to Waverly after a year in retirement.

“He was a little nervous but he knew he did the work. He did so much work over the break with so many extra sessions to get his body right.

“No one was surprised with how he played at the weekend. He’s such a quality person and a quality player.”