AFTER sustaining what appeared to be a season-ending hamstring injury, Brent Guerra is determined to make a return for the Hawks.
Guerra immediately grabbed for his left hamstring after a marking contest with West Coast’s Josh Hill in the final term of Hawthorn’s 25-point win over the Eagles.
A distraught Guerra limped over the boundary line before being helped to the bench by Hawks trainers.
He was on crutches post-game and was consoled by Captain, Luke Hodge.
“Terrible news for Brent, and terrible news for us,” General Manager - Football Operations, Mark Evans said of Guerra’s injury.
“His hamstring is going to be tough for him to manage in the next few weeks.”
A vital cog in Hawthorn’s defensive set up, the 30-year-old is a big loss both offensively and defensively.
Guerra takes on the responsibility of Hawthorn’s defensive kick-ins, taking a team-high 95 kick-ins this season.
Evans said though, that the 236-game veteran is focused on rehabilitating the injury the best he can, in an attempt to return for the Hawks later in the finals series.
“He’s prepared to give it a go and see if he can get back into some game later on in the season,” he said.
“He’s got some work ahead of him, but we’ll give him every support as he has a go with that.”
In a surprise move, Coach Alastair Clarkson gave the green substitutes vest to returning small forward Cyril Rioli against the Eagles.
But Hawthorn’s x-factor won’t be warming the bench for three quarters against the Magpies in the first Qualifying Final on Friday night, with Evans ruling out a possible lingering shoulder injury.
“His shoulder is fine,” he said.
“I’m not sure you’ll see him in that position again.”
The Hawks will be keeping its preparation simple ahead of its first match of the 2012 Finals Series.
Evans said keeping the lead up to the game “normal” is the aim.
“For us, it’s about keeping things normal - same training, same preparation,” he said.
“You don’t go too far, in fact if anything, you tend to train a bit less and just keep the energy high.
“That’ll be our approach, and its been that way the last few years - it’ll be the same this year.”
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
Luke Lowden (wrist) - season
Michael Osborne (knee) - season
Alex Woodward (knee) - season
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