Hawthorn’s senior coach Alastair Clarkson has officially ruled out 72-game player Matt Suckling from Friday night’s Qualifying Final blockbuster at the MCG.
The Hawk defender went down with an injured knee during their last contest against the Cats in Round 22.
Although he’s not far from making his return, Clarkson today made it clear that Suckling won’t be participating in tomorrow night’s defence force.
"He won’t play this week unfortunately, he hasn't quite come up," Clarkson said.
"He's tracking pretty well, but it just wasn't quite the progress that we would have liked for him to be able to play on Friday night.
"He'll hopefully get himself right for the next game we play – whether that's next week or the week after."
An injured Hawk 2/09/2014
A knee injury that was sustained during the Hawks' last clash against the Cats might keep defender Matt Suckling from playing in Friday night's final.
According to AFL.com.au, the 75-game-player appeared to be experiencing some discomfort whilst on the training track and was unable to complete a full training session.
This week key defender Brian Lake undertook a lighter session on the track, however, the Hawks expect him to be ready to play against Tom Hawkins at the MCG on Friday night, despite receiving a corked hip last week against the Pies.
Both Cyril Rioli (hamstring) and midfielder Isaac Smith (not known) also trained away from the main group.
Hawthorn speaks on Cats 1/09/2014
Ahead of Friday night’s Qualifying Final, Hawthorn’s skipper Luke Hodge says his team cannot afford to leave Geelong’s leading forward, Tom Hawkins, to only one defender.
Going by Hawkins' showdown against the Lions, the Hawks will be on high alert following his career breaking performance in the forward line on Saturday night.
Hawkins' shooting spree of seven goals meant he was only five goals away from winning this year's Coleman Medal with a high total of 62-goals.
"No doubt (Hawkins) has been a big player for them the last few years in finals, but whether it's Lakey (Brian Lake) or Gibbo (Josh Gibson), we rely on all defenders to work as a unit,” Hodge said.
"It's not one person that's going to be able to stop Hawkins."
Hawthorn’s senior coach Alastair Clarkson says their last contest against the Cats demonstrates why the Hawks cannot deliver anything but their best footy on Friday night.
“We saw contrasting halves in that game (two weeks ago), and if you don't bring your best footy against any of these sides in September you're going to really battle,” Clarkson said.
"It was a hard lesson to learn, but we responded really well after half-time ... if we don't play some of our best football we won't continue to progress."
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