STAR Hawthorn utility Shaun Burgoyne finished Saturday's 53-point victory over the Gold Coast Suns under a potential injury cloud having spent the final term on the bench in his tracksuit after reporting soreness to coaching staff.
Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson suggested the 351-game champion was given an early exit from the game as a precautionary measure and explained that Burgoyne would be monitored closely in the coming days.
And there’s no doubt the Hawks will have their fingers crossed for a positive outcome given the 35-year-old has already missed several games this season after straining his left hamstring against the Cats in April.
HAWKS SINK SUNS Full match coverage and stats
"We're not really sure it’s an injury," Clarkson said. "He was just sore and tired late in the game.
"We were five or six goals up at three-quarter time and he complains about being a bit sore and tired, it’s no point taking a risk with him.
"Having said that, we need to monitor him in the early part of this week. If he was jumping out of his skin he would have played in the last part of the game but we just decided not to take a risk with him given the load he has had thus far."
The Hawks dominated a game that failed to hit any great heights – with the exception being Taylor Duryea’s second-quarter mark – and Clarkson acknowledged that goal-kicking was a particular issue for his players having watched them boot 13.18 for the afternoon including 3.6 in both the second and third terms.
"Both sides kicked poorly and that didn’t add to the spectacle, unfortunately," he said. "The conversion of both sides from set shots was well below what we expect at this level.
"It was hardly a highly-entertaining game in terms of the quality of footy."
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While his side jump into the eight on the back of Saturday’s win, they will be displaced again if results don’t go their way and Clarkson is under no illusion there’s work to be done as the Hawks strive for a return to finals footy in 2018.
"The sides above us are probably playing a better brand of footy than us at the present time but we feel like there’s some blue sky there in terms of the way we play and improvement in our players and if we can get that we give ourselves a chance.
WATCH Alastair Clarkson's full post-match media conference
"We’ve got a fair bit of work to do in the second part of the year."
Clarkson also provided a brief update regarding Cyril Rioli’s situation and indicated that while there’s no current timeline for his return to the club, Clarkson is hoping to receive an update in the coming days.
"Graham Wright is probably our point of contact from the footy club’s point of view, and there’s been regular contact with both Cyril and his manager in the last couple of weeks, but we’re none the wiser in terms of when he’ll actually return, but hopefully we’ll get an update over the next two or three days."
