RICK LADSON has overcome his pre-season injury setback to take his place in the Hawks line-up for the season opener against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Ladson was sidelined after injuring his ankle in the NAB Cup first-round match against Melbourne but has since made solid progress and will take his place on the wing.
Football manager Mark Evans told hawthornfc.com.au: "Rick had done 95 per cent of the work, so he's actually picked up his fitness pretty quickly,"
Despite restricted pre-season campaigns, Trent Croad, Danny Jacobs and Michael Osborne will also take their place against the Lions.
And young gun Xavier Ellis is set to make his AFL debut after being named on the interchange for the opening round.
The 19-year-old was the third player selected in the 2005 NAB AFL Draft but a broken foot and school commitments ruled him out of playing his first match last year.
Hawthorn has named a strong side, although captain Richie Vandenberg (hamstring) and former skipper Shane Crawford (suspension) will not play.
Campbell Brown is also suspended while veteran defender Joel Smith and emerging ruckman Max Bailey are both sidelined with knee injuries. Bailey will miss the entire season.
An impressive pre-season from Tim Boyle has resulted in the key forward being set to play his sixth AFL match since his debut in 2005.
"He's had a very consistent summer," Evans said. "People will talk about great pre-seasons, but Tim Boyle has been the model of consistency across the course of the summer, so it was no surprise to us that he was playing well in the NAB series.
"He is very deserving of his spot in the team for round one."
Simon Taylor has been named as No.1 ruckman, with Robbie Campbell on the bench.
"Simon has started in the ruck each game and it's worked OK for us, so he and Robbie Campbell will share the rucking duties for us and at least it'll mean Simon will get his hands on it first," Evans said.
"But it also means that Robbie will be the first change up after having such a good season last year, which is a good result for us."
Veteran forward Ben Dixon, who had an interrupted pre-season, has been named an emergency, as has yet-to-debut midfielder Beau Muston, who is also on the cusp of selection.
"The plan for 'Dicko' was round one, but he's unlucky in that we've picked a bench where we've wanted to have extra run and with Roughead, Boyle and Williams going well in the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge and Alastair wanted to play a running bench," Evans said.
"Ben found it hard to get a spot in the side for round one, but he won't be too far away."
BRISBANE LIONS v HAWTHORNSaturday, 7:10pm AEST, GabbaHAWTHORNB: Stephen Gilham, Trent Croad, Grant BirchallHB: Brent Guerra, Danny Jacobs, Luke HodgeC: Rick Ladson, Sam Mitchell, Tim ClarkeHF: Mark Williams, Lance Franklin, Jordan LewisF: Michael Osborne, Jarryd Roughead, Tim BoyleFOLL: Simon Taylor, Brad Sewell, Chance BatemanI/C: Robert Campbell, Clinton Young, Ben McGlynn, Xavier EllisEMG: Zac Dawson, Ben Dixon, Beau MustonNEW: Xavier Ellis (Gippsland Power)
BRISBANE LIONS
B: Chris Johnson, Daniel Merrett, Jason RoeHB: Jed Adcock, Jared Brennan, Robert CopelandC: Justin Sherman, Nigel Lappin, Cheynee StillerHF: Matthew Moody, Jonathan Brown, Tim NottingF: Michael Rischitelli, Jamie Charman, Ashley McGrathFOLL: Cameron Wood, Simon Black, Luke PowerI/C: Ben Fixter, Joel Patfull, Colm Begley, Scott HardingEMG: Beau McDonald, Matthew Tyler, Marcus Allan
Field umpires: Stefan Grun, Matthew Head, Troy Pannell
