HAWTHORN star Shane Crawford says that despite a seasonravaged by injury, present skipper Richie Vandenberg is the favourite to retainthe club captaincy next year.

Having played just one game (against the Bombers in round six),Vandenbergbattled all season with shoulder and hamstring problems before returning in round18, only to injure his knee a week later against Brisbane.

“He’s been terrific,” Crawfordsays.

“A lot of his work is done off the field, keeping the grouptogether, and he’s been tremendous at it. I suppose it just comes down to thedirection the club wants to go with [the captaincy], but at the moment you’ddefinitely say that he’d be the leading person.”

Crawford says it has been a difficult season for a number ofHawks who have been forced to watch from the sidelines.

“It has been frustrating for him and there’s been a fewother players in similar situations. It's been tough on Mark Williams and TimClarke. He’s [Vandenberg] still got an opportunity to be there and finish offthe season really well, so he’s focusing on that. It would be good to have himback in.”

Vandenberg will face fitness tests this week to see if he’srecovered from his knee injury in time for Sunday’s clash with the Bulldogs atthe Telstra Dome.