HAWTHORN General Manager - Football Operations, Mark Evans admits the Hawks took a cautious approach to the niggling injuries of Jordan Lewis and Clinton Young.
The pair missed Friday night’s Qualifying Final win over Collingwood with hamstring and calf injuries respectively.
Lewis was a late withdrawal from the match, while Young was omitted from the team when it was named last Thursday night.
Evans said in hindsight, it was a conservative approach and both should return for the Hawks’ Preliminary Final against the winner of the Adelaide-Fremantle clash on Friday night.
“Both those guys should be fine,” Evans said.
“It was a bit conservative not to play them.
“Clinton just couldn’t get up to 100 per cent speed at the final training session, so we left him out.”
Midfielder, Lewis participated in the Hawks final training session on Thursday and was given until the last minute to prove his fitness for the clash against the Magpies.
“Jordan was a little bit tight in a hamstring,” Evans said.
“We decided to wait until game day to see if it had dissipated or not.
“In the end, it was a wise decision not to play them.
“They both should be okay (for the Preliminary Final).”
In more good news for the Hawks, defender Brent Guerra has resumed light running duties as he begins his rehabilitation from a torn hamstring.
While many media pundits have written off the 30-year-old, Evans holds high hopes for a diligent Guerra.
“He’s back into a running program and trying to get some strength back into that hamstring,” he said.
“He’ll build up the intensity a bit over the next couple of weeks, and hopefully he can get there (for a return).
“He’s progressing well.”
Brendan Whitecross underwent a full knee reconstruction on Wednesday after rupturing his ACL in the opening term of the Qualifying Final.
While his season is over, Evans was complimentary of the role Whitecross played in the Hawks’ win - from an off-field perspective.
“He had surgery yesterday, and I believe its gone very well - he should be out of hospital in the next day or so,” Evans said.
“He’s amazing, the demeanor that he showed after he’d been told he’d most likely had a quite serious knee injury, the demeanor on the bench was outstanding.
“He made a decision that he didn’t want players coming to the bench and see him sad and have that impact on their game.
“He was as upbeat as he could be.”
Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club's Digital Media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre.
Injury list
Andrew Boseley (shoulder) - season
Stephen Gilham (quad) - TBC
Brent Guerra (hamstring) - TBC
Brendan Whitecross (knee) - season
Luke Lowden (wrist) - season
Michael Osborne (knee) - season
Alex Woodward (knee) - season
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