Hawthorn will be without top-line forwards Mitch Lewis and Luke Breust when they travel to Carrara to face Gold Coast this weekend.
However, there was good news for speedster Chankuoth Jiath, who is expected to return to action within the next week.
However, Hawks fans will have to wait a bit longer before witnessing Jiath run out onto the MCG.
After missing the Hawks’ narrow Gather Round loss to Collingwood last Sunday with a hamstring injury, Lewis will miss again, with the club content to take a softly-softly approach with their key forward.
“Mitch has been rehabbing a very low-level hamstring injury, his hamstring is feeling pretty good at the moment,” Hawthorn High Performance Manager Peter Burge told Hawks Media.
“But it has also become apparent that his knee has got a little bit of joint soreness as well, which we need to respect also.
“So we’re just holding his program at the moment, he won’t play this week and we need to assess how he progresses later this week.”
Since debuting in Round 9 of the 2018 season, Lewis is yet to finish any of his seasons at Waverley with more than 15 appearances to his name.
The plan remains the same for Breust, with the veteran currently battling groin soreness.
“This has been part of his management over the last couple of years, it’s nothing new, it’s an overload issue,” Burge explained.
“Given he is an older player that has played lots of footy, we’ve just had to pullpull his training back and let this settle.”
At the other end of the field, Jiath has made significant progress toward his return to AFL action.
Jiath hurt his hamstring again this summer, preventing him from finishing his pre-season training after traveling to the Middle East to address his chronic soft tissue issues.
While a spot in Sam Mitchell’s senior team is still a long way off, Burge stated that the club is hopeful Jiath will be able to play at some level in the near future.
“He has put in a power of work over this period of time,” he said.
“He has put in a power of work over this period of time,” he said.
“As I’ve previously stated, with this type of injury, we needed to put him in a holding pattern and increase his conditioning at a specific percentage of speed before we could go.
“We’ve taken our time, and we’re confident in his strength; he’s already done some skills sessions with the main group, and he’ll be starting full training at the end of this week.
“Then we can determine how much match play he can do and at what level as well, that will be a discussion with match committee next week.”
The date, however, has been announced.
