Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell believes his club has lost “the strength of (its) list” through numerous injuries.
Coming off a poor season that was saved by some late-year performances, the return of a number of key Hawks was expected to boost the club in 2022.
Intercepting defender James Sicily has been in full training for months in his return from an ACL injury and will be fit for Round 1, while key forward Jack Gunston will play more footy in the coming season.
However, as Mitchell detailed, several injuries have hit their half-back line and left the club vulnerable.
Jarman Impey (foot) and Will Day (ankle) have now been ruled out for Round 1, while Lachie Bramble (foot) and Changkuoth Jiath (PCL) are battling to be fit.
“Impey and Day, unfortunately, have already been ruled out for Round 1, so they won’t be available,” Mitchell told SEN Breakfast.
“The other guys, if they get through everything between now and then, then they will be available.
“We haven’t seen a lot of CJ (Jiath), so not sure exactly where he will be at, he’ll play in a game over the weekend on limited minutes and see how he looks, see how he feels, those type of thing.
“A lot of our injuries are in the same position, those half-back flankers, which if you look at our team on paper, I think most people would say our half-back line is where our strength lies.
“The run and flash of Lachie Bramble and CJ, Impey and Day, that crew, and they’re all potentially unavailable.”
However, he’s optimistic the Hawks have the players to cover.
Will Day is expected to return in Round 2 or 3, and Mitchell was buoyed by the performance of Harry Morrison, who had 17 disposals across half-back against the Tigers in the pre-season.
“That (injury crisis) is a bit of a challenge for us, but every time there’s a challenge for selection there’s a great opportunity isn’t there,” the Hawks mentor continued.
“We saw Harry Morrison play in the back half through the last couple of games and has equipped himself really strongly.
“So there’s opportunity all over the ground for every team in Round 1.”
The injuries have been felt over the pre-season, Hawthorn’s defence looking shaky in recent scratch matches.
They conceded 94 points against Richmond and looked poor against Collingwood for three quarters before both sides played their VFL teams, leading to concerns the Hawks’ strong defensive structures from 2021 had been forgotten.
Mitchell shares those concerns – including in first quarters where they conceded seven goals in both games - while he also lamented his own selection decisions.
“Particularly against Collingwood, I thought we didn’t structure the game very well and tried to give them a bit of freedom to play,” Mitchell added.
“We had a couple of guys playing out of position, which in hindsight probably wasn’t a great move, trying to get some young guys some exposure into the game and playing them out of position probably wasn’t a very strong move.
“In the second game against Richmond, despite conceding some goals, I thought we did look better throughout the game, so we’re continuing to evolve how we play and where different players play in their positions.
“So there’s a lot of learning going on, (but) certainly the first two quarters have been a concern, you don’t want to concede seven goals in any quarter, let alone the first.”
Mitchell also revealed he would likely coach from the box early in the season, trusting off-season addition Andy Collins on the bench.
The Hawks kick off their season with a winnable game against North Melbourne in Round 1.
