Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says dropped forward Ty Vickery must lift his game if he is to play AFL with the Hawks.
Since switching from Richmond as a free agent at the end of last season, Vickery has been held goalless four times in six senior appearances with his new club.
Clarkson said the equation was a simple one for Vickery.
“Take marks and kick goals,” the coach replied when asked what Vickery needs to do to reclaim an AFL berth.
“He’s a forward and he’s kicked two goals in six games, so we need a better return.
“Timmy O’Brien was actually playing pretty well prior to getting a bit of a hip complaint three or four weeks ago.
“But had Ty been playing the sort of footy that we want him to play then he would have maintained his spot in the side.
“He hasn’t been as good as we’d like so we’ll see if Tim can be a little bit better in that regard.”
Clarkson made two changes for Saturday’s clash against Gold Coast at the MCG, dropping Vickery and Dallas Willsmore and recalling Will Langford and O’Brien.
The Hawks suffered the first of back-to-back 86-point thrashings when they played the Suns at Metricon Stadium in round three.
Two-time Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett bounced back into top form in that clash with 36 possessions and two goals.
But Clarkson said it’s dangerous for opposition teams to become too focused on the Suns’ superstar.
“We probably kick-started a bit of his good form … he was very good that night,” Clarkson said.
“But they’ve got a host of other players through the middle of the ground that we need to pay particular attention to.
“Sometimes if you’ve got too much of a focus on one player it can affect the way that you balance your defence through the middle of the ground.
“At various stages we’ll need to take account of him but we’re also mindful that we need to win the footy and try to make them defend as well.”
The Hawks are 16th on the ladder with a 4-7 record heading into round 12, while the Suns are 15th with four wins and six losses.