Hawthorn are torn between rushing Stephen Gilham’s comeback and making sure the full-back is completely ready for a return to the AFL.
While the Hawks overran St Kilda last Saturday night to win by 35 points, they were again exposed in defence as Justin Koschitzke kicked five goals.
Josh Gibson was missing with an ankle injury and Gilham is still building match fitness in the VFL as he returns from last year’s knee reconstruction.
The need for caution was emphasised when Gilham was forced to sit out a VFL match with knee soreness.
But he impressed on the weekend and teammate Sam Mitchell said the Hawks want him back in the senior side as soon as possible.
“Probably with those guys who come back from `recos’, you don’t want to rush them, you want them to come (back) in their own time and make sure they’re really confident,” Mitchell said.
“Gilly has actually been playing really good footy at Box Hill, too, so it’s like (we’re) trying to rush him along, but you have to be conservative … it’s pretty high-risk.”
The good news is Gibson should return this week and fellow backman Ben Stratton, who suffered a heavy knock to the head early against the Saints, should play against Melbourne this Friday night at the MCG.
But Mitchell said on Monday that their six-day break meant it was too early to confirm that Lance Franklin and Luke Hodge would definitely be fit to play the Demons.
Franklin hurt his shoulder in the first half and Hodge appeared to be nursing a sore leg or lower back.
Beyond personnel, Mitchell said the Hawks had plenty of room for improvement following the tough win over St Kilda and their second-half fadeout the week before against Sydney.
The highlights against the Saints were Cyril Rioli and Franklin kicking 11 goals between them and Jordan Lewis shut down Nick Dal Santo.
“We have a lot of things in our game that we need to fix up, we’re not playing great footy.
“You’d go to that game and say `gee, Cyril and Buddy were pretty good to watch’, but as a team you would look at it and say `yeah, Hawthorn look okay’.
“We’re not happy with the way we’re playing as a full 120-minute side.”
Hawthorn have beaten Melbourne in their last eight matches and will start strong favourites.
But Mitchell is wary of what challenges they will face from the new-look Demons.
“We look at the season in three- or four-week blocks and Melbourne this week is at the end of that block,” he said.
“It’s a different challenge for us this week and when you play against a side with new coaches and new vibrancy, it’s always a bit of a challenge – new players to learn about.”