HAWTHORN skipper Luke Hodge is in doubt for the clash against Fremantle next week after being subbed from the ground with a groin injury during the third quarter of Friday night's thriller against Essendon.
Hodge appeared to strain the groin when he chased a ball deep into defence and put it over the boundary line under enormous pressure.
As a free kick for deliberate out of bounds was paid against Hodge he left the ground.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson was uncertain as to the extent of Hodge's injury and was hopeful rather than confident that he would be available next week.
"[It's] a sore groin. I don't know the severity of that. We'll get that scanned on the weekend. The fact that he was subbed out doesn't look great for next week but we'll just wait and see," Clarkson said.
"Sometimes groins can just be fiddly little things and you can get yourself up to play but we won't take any risk with him. If he is not right to play then he will have a spell for someone else."
Clarkson said Sam Mitchell – who was a late withdrawal from the game due to a calf injury – should be able to train next week and be right for the game against Fremantle.
With several senior players out – Brad Sewell, Ben Stratton, Ryan Schoenmakers and Brian Lake (suspended) were also missing – it was little wonder Clarkson described the four-point win as a "special win for the club."
"We've got a fair few young kids at our club that deserve a chance – [they have] been waiting around for an opportunity for two, three, four years and [although] we are a little bit stiff in a sense that some of our senior guys are out, we're rapt that these young guys are getting this opportunity and it was a great game for them to experience tonight," Clarkson said.
Playing in the game with fewer than 50 games experience were Kyle Cheney, Taylor Duryea, Brad Hill, Will Langford, Tim O'Brien, Jonathan Simpkin and first-gamer Angus Litherland.
Of that bunch only Hill and Simpkin played in last year’s premiership team.
Clarkson praised the efforts of senior players Shaun Burgoyne, Cyril Rioli, Jarryd Roughead and Josh Gibson in the final stages of the game and said it was a willingness to take risks when the contest was tight that allowed his team to claw to victory when all seemed lost late in the game.
Clarkson admitted with a sheepish grin that things did not look too good when a goal to the Bombers' Paul Chapman put the Hawks nine points behind with three minutes remaining on the clock.
But goals to Breust and Rioli saw Hawthorn regain the lead and hold on for a win that appeared unlikely for most of the last quarter.
"The message really was just take some risks and hang in the contest because you never know what happens," Clarkson said. "We weren't controlling the game at all but you just persevere and you might find a little bit of luck along the way and we found a little bit tonight which was fortunate for us."
Although pleased to bank the four points and rapt with the character on display, Clarkson said the team's performance was nowhere near the standard he wanted Hawthorn to reach.
"We're none-too-happy with the way we played tonight really and full credit to Essendon for denying us the opportunity to use the ball the way we usually like to use it," Clarkson said. "We handled the last five to eight minutes of the game really well … to create an opportunity for ourselves to get the ball forward and somehow create a goal."
Undefeated after two games and with plenty to work on, Clarkson appeared to view the win with muted satisfaction.
"We'd like to be playing a little bit better than we are at the moment but we are winning games of footy,” Clarkson said.
