HAWTHORN’S Shane Crawford says club skipper Sam Mitchell is likely to be back for the club’s round five clash against the Brisbane Lions next week after being a late withdrawal for Sunday’s match against Adelaide.
“Sammy hurt his calf but I think he’s a really good chance to play this week which is good. We were hoping he’d come up last week but that wasn’t the case,” Crawford said.
Trent Croad could also be back in the side ahead of time. The defender dislocated his wrist just minutes into the Hawks’ round one victory over Melbourne.
“He might be a chance in the next couple of weeks. He’s not far at all. I’d like to say he’s a chance this week but I’m not 100 per cent on that. We definitely need him going up to Brisbane against Jonathan Brown.”
Injuries aside, things are looking good for the Hawks.
They’re undefeated heading into round five and star forward Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin bagged six goals in the 44-point victory at Launceston, bringing his total for the season to 21. However Crawford insisted that the team will not become too ‘Buddycentric’.
“We’re very mindful that we have a lot of other forwards up there and not to be too focused on Buddy.”
Crawford did single out his young teammate, 18-year-old crumbing forward Cyril Rioli for praise.
“He’s a great player, Cryil. He’s an electric player. His defensive work is sensational, probably the best I’ve seen for a young guy in the competition.
"We’re hoping he can stand up through the whole year and keep contributing.”
Despite the team’s exciting form, the 33-year-old refused to label his side as contenders yet.
“We’re certainly not getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve won four matches and it’s certainly very exciting to be undefeated but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We realise that it’s such a long year and an even competition so we can’t be thinking that everything’s going to be rosy.”
The Hawks will be looking to make it five wins in a row when they face Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday evening and Crawford is wary of a Lions’ side who came back from a 47-point deficit late in the third quarter to beat Port Adelaide by 20 points at the weekend.
“I reckon this week is going to be one of our biggest tests of the year, going up to Brisbane and coming from a sensational win for them and they’re an up and coming side too so it’s going to be a really big test for us to see exactly where we’re at.”
However Crawford believes that, mentally, the Hawks are a tougher proposition in 2008.
“In previous years we haven’t been able to get ourselves up after having some good wins where as I think mentally we’re a lot better as a side and physically we’ve developed a fair bit and I think the younger guys have come on a bit quicker than you would hope. I think that’s married all together and that’s why we’re having positive performances.”
Although he admitted that inspiring performances by young squad members could elongate his career, he’s not keen to put a number on how many more seasons he’ll wear the brown and gold.
“I don’t know about a couple of years but it keeps me very young at heart and keeps me going. There’s a lot of motivation there to be a part of it. It’s a very exciting time to get out there and play footy.”
