HAWTHORN could make up to four changes for Friday night's MCG blockbuster against Collingwood after big names Luke Hodge, Lance Franklin, Grant Birchall and Max Bailey all completed training at Waverley Park on Thursday.
Coach Alastair Clarkson walked into a difficult - but pleasing - match committee meeting after training that could result in the Hawks picking as strong a side as at any time this year for the match that should draw close to 80,000.
Skipper Hodge has missed one match after minor thumb surgery and wore a glove on his right hand for most of the light, 45-minute session.
Franklin missed last week against St Kilda because of hamstring tightness, while Bailey hasn’t played for a fortnight because of hip bruising.
Birchall is the tough call for Clarkson. He has missed seven matches following a PCL injury but has been training at full pace for close to three weeks. There are certain Hawks that Clarkson tends never to bring back through the VFL, but Birchall has been so durable for so long it remains unclear whether he will return at AFL level.
His run, carry and precise delivery off half-back is a key for the Hawks and the Magpies don’t appear to have many obvious match-ups, hence the temptation for Clarkson.
"He's a really important player for us," said Clarkson. "But it's more about how he is in two or three weeks and whether he needs more conditioning through the VFL or to bring him straight back into the AFL side.
"We'll make that decision this afternoon."
Clarkson had said several times that the Hawks play their best football when Bailey, their No.1 ruckman is available.
Bailey has only once this year strung five games in a row together and that was the opening five weeks of the season.
Clarkson said he was confident that he had the durability to run out the season, but said the Hawks had been fortunate enough to put games into Sam Grimley and Jonathan Ceglar in Bailey's absence.
"We've wanted to make sure that Max is rested over the course of the year.
"They carry such large responsibility and we found that last year, David Hale and Jarryd Roughead carried the load all the way through and they weren’t much good for us in the finals.
"We want to make sure the load isn’t carried by just one or two players across our side. That's the case with Max too," he said.
The Hawks have put more than 20 goals past Collingwood in their past four encounters, with an average winning margin of more than 40 points.
Clarkson played down suggestions his side matches up particularly well against Collingwood, whose last fortnight he described as "superb".
But he added that Collingwood's previous two matches, a loss to Gold Coast and a battling win over Greater Western Sydney were disappointing performances, saying the Pies' best and worst had been on display in the past month.
He said the same could be said of his own team, however, which beat Essendon by 56 points three weeks ago, then lost to Richmond a week later by 10 goals.
"It's going to be a great game of footy," he said. "The general public love these big Friday night games at the MCG and it's always a great contest."
"We're looking forward to the challenge and to build some momentum into the finals."
