HAWTHORN half-back Changkuoth Jiath has been ruled out of a fifth consecutive game due to a lingering calf and Achilles issue that has taken longer than first hoped to heal.

The 24-year-old suffered a calf strain against Melbourne in round nine and is still dealing with some awareness related to his Achilles tendon.

Jiath returned early from his mid-season break, resumed full training with the main group on Tuesday and trained on Thursday, but the Hawks have opted to take a conservative approach and won't take him to Queensland to face Gold Coast on Sunday. 

"At this stage he is going to miss one more. He just doesn't quite have that confidence and his explosive nature means he is not a guy you can roll out at half pace. He is going to be another week," Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said at Waverley Park on Thursday morning.

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"Sometimes with a calf you can run quite quickly but with him he couldn't run for two or three weeks. He hasn't had any setbacks or anything, he is just a different athlete with such power, we haven't been able to get him feeling confident. 

"You'll watch him train today and he will look great, but the risk of injury again (is still present). We want to make sure when he gets back he stays back. He is going to have a long career in the brown and gold, so we want to make sure we don't risk that at this stage."

Key defender Sam Frost will return after missing the upset win over Brisbane prior to the Hawks' mid-season bye. 

The 29-year-old has recovered from the niggling foot complaint he carried from round two and will slot into a backline that will be without James Sicily for the next three weeks due to suspension. 

Sam Frost in action during Hawthorn's clash against the Western Bulldogs in round seven, 2023. Picture: Getty Images

Mitchell said the skipper won't waste his time on the sidelines, just like he didn't when he spent 18 months out of the game recovering from the anterior cruciate ligament he ruptured in 2020, working with the football department in recruiting, development and coaching.

"I think he would like to go to the Ashes or go overseas. 'Sis' has missed a whole season of footy (in 2021) and while we're disappointed that he is missing at the moment, he knows he has been in this position before where he has tried to find a way to get better off the field," Mitchell said. 

"He is going to come up and sit in the coaches' box and help us with a few things in the background. His leadership is still going to be important. He is going to do everything he can to get better while he's not playing. 

"The boys have all been getting into him saying he has a mini pre-season ahead of him, which he is still a bit grumpy about that, so maybe stay away from that topic for another week but after that he will be training a fair bit harder than everyone else."

James Sicily leads his team onto the field during the R13 match between Hawthorn and Brisbane at the MCG on June 10, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos

St Kilda is the only side that has won coming out of the bye this year, although it faced Sydney, which had also had the week off. Geelong and Gold Coast were both well beaten last weekend, while Brisbane and Fremantle lost in round 13. 

Hawthorn is one of only four teams that has a positive win-loss record – along with Fremantle, St Kilda and Richmond – in the game after the week off in the past decade.

Mitchell said the Hawks made the most of the mid-season reset and are aware of the challenges that come with playing after the week off, addressing the record when the players returned to help kickstart preparations ahead of the game at Heritage Bank Stadium. 

"We've raised it. We've had a little bit of an advantage in we know that, so everyone else that was losing off the bye they perhaps didn't know that as something to focus on," he said.

Sam Mitchell is pictured during Hawthorn training on June 22, 2023. Picture: Getty Images

"We wanted our players to have a break and be able to have some time off, be able to give our staff some time away and take a breath and reset and accelerate into the next phase of the season. 

"We know we are here to work now. I think half the players walked in on Monday morning and they were desperate to get going and half of them would have been like I don't feel quite ready yet, we just made sure we stamped that out right from Monday and had a normal training week. There are absolutely no excuses for us coming out of the bye knowing the information."

Josh Ward is fighting for a spot in the 23 after building up his minutes in the VFL before the bye, while Harry Morrison, Chad Wingard, Henry Hustwaite and Fergus Greene are all in contention for the game against Stuart Dew's side.