HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell is set to swing the axe at selection on Thursday and make at least three changes, ahead of Saturday's game against North Melbourne at University of Tasmania Stadium.
Two-time All-Australian Chad Wingard is expected to return from the minor calf strain that prevented him from featuring in last Sunday's 81-point loss to Sydney at the SCG.
Defender Jack Scrimshaw and wingman Harry Morrison will both make the trip to Launceston to face the Kangaroos after playing managed minutes in the VFL for Box Hill last weekend.
After finishing in the top-10 in the Peter Crimmins Medal after playing 20 games in 2022, Scrimshaw was squeezed out of a spot at half-back across the pre-season, while Morrison strained his hamstring in February and then experienced a back issue before his return.
Coach Sam Mitchell said the Hawks needed to make unforced changes ahead of a winless start to 2023 that leaves them on the bottom of the ladder with a percentage of just 42.1.
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"We haven't finished match committee yet, but there will certainly be a need to make changes with the way we've played in the first two games," Mitchell told reporters at Waverley Park on Thursday morning.
"We expect Chad to play, he's got to get through training today.
"We'll get a couple of guys back. Harry Morrison had some limited minutes at VFL last week. There will certainly be at least three changes. We will wait for the end of training to see what the others will be.
"Jack Scrimshaw has been dealing with a couple of things, so he'll be coming into the side. A lot of other guys performed really well through the pre-season and been a bit more consistent than him. He spent a night in hospital last week, so he was on limited minutes again. He is in our best side. He just had a limited preparation, but we're going to get him back in now."
Mitchell guided Hawthorn to eight wins in his first season in charge last year, including a run of four out of five games late in the season, but the Hawks have been put under the microscope in the first fortnight of the season after savage list decisions led to the club trading away Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O'Meara and Jack Gunston to accelerate the rebuild.
New North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson will face the side he guided to four premierships – 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015 – for the first time since the short-lived coaching succession at Waverley Park led to Mitchell starting at the end of 2021, rather than 2022.
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Mitchell said there had not been any communication between the pair ahead of the game, which will be played off-Broadway but still draw plenty of interest given the history between both coaches.
"I know you'd love a big quote about Mitchell and Clarkson. I'm the coach of this football club, of this football team, that's my priority. To be perfectly honest, that's enough to fill my cup at the moment," he said.
"I've got enough on my plate, I don't worry too much about the coach of the opposition. Most of the coaches know each other at some level, so it's not too different this week.
"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it at all, watching the opposition and seeing what they do, seeing why they do it. You're scouting it the same as every game, you just potentially have a little bit more of an idea about the mind of the coach."
The Hawks are reconsidering their stance on using two ruckmen in the same 22, despite the absence of gun key forward Mitch Lewis, after Ned Reeves was substituted out of Sunday's loss at the SCG.
Young key defender Denver Grainger-Barras is being considered for an AFL recall following an impressive performance for Box Hill – the 2020 pick No.6 hauled in 11 marks from 20 disposals – but might be forced to wait a bit longer.
Tyler Brockman is also a name that has been debated internally this week after he kicked 3.2 in the VFL on Sunday. If Wingard doesn't prove his fitness, the West Australian could return for his first AFL appearance since round 23, 2021.
Finn Maginness put the clamps on a diverse mix of opposition stars in 2022 – Ed Langdon, Jordan Dawson, Tim Kelly, Jy Simpkin, Jack Sinclair, Touk Miller and Shai Bolton – and could be set for a role on budding superstar Luke Davies-Uniacke.
Mitchell wouldn't reveal who the gun tagger would play on in Launceston, but Davies-Uniacke looms as the most obvious target following a blistering start to 2023 that has seen the 23-year-old poll 20 coaches votes in the first two rounds.
"He has polled perfect votes from the coaches in the first two games. I think the second half of last year he was an All-Australian talent if not the best player in the competition, really," he said.
"I think you look at him, but also [Harry] Sheezel who sets them up behind the ball and is a really important player for them. They've got a couple of other key playmakers who are important to the way they play, not necessarily on the stats sheet. Finn will certainly have a role."
