Hawthorn will be without senior defender Sam Frost for the rest of the club's premiership push due to a foot injury.
Frost hobbled from the field late into Friday night's win over the Western Bulldogs following a marking contest in the fourth quarter, with the 31-year-old spending the final minutes of the 37-point victory on the interchange.
Scans have since discovered bone stress in Frost's foot, an injury that will put a line through the remainder of his 2024 campaign.
โUnfortunately, the scans have confirmed that Sam has a bone stress injury in his foot, and given his specific injury, he will not be able to take any further part in our 2024 finals campaign,โ Hawks doctor Liam West said.
โSam will spend the next period offloading in a moon boot whilst we continue to assess him to determine a more accurate recovery timeline.โ
The Hawks were without midfield pair Will Day (collarbone) and Cameron Mackenzie (hamstring) for Friday's win over the Bulldogs, with the young ball-winning duo in doubt for the club's semi-final against Port Adelaide.
Day will need to prove his fitness in the coming days to be cleared to return, while Mackenzie suffered a low-grade strain on Thursday and is unlikely to suit up for the South Australia trip.
Frost will be a difficult magnet to replace, with the veteran stopper being one of the most experienced players in Mitchell's squad who has also played every game in the brown and gold in 2024.
His absence will mean young defender Jai Serong could earn a recall for the Hawks' next final, while pre-season signing Ethan Phillips and youngster Denver Grainger-Barras are other tall defenders on standby.
Mitchell could look to rely on James Sicily, Jack Scrimshaw and Josh Weddle as his trio of defensive talls to face the Power, who have a number of key forward options in Charlie Dixon, Mitch Georgiades, Todd Marshall, Esava Ratugolea and Ollie Lord to pick from.
Marshall and Lord did not play in the Power's qualifying final defeat to Geelong but could be in the mix for a reprieve after Dixon and Ratugolea were kept quiet against the Cats.
A smaller backline could see Changkuoth Jiath earn a reprieve, having missed the win over the Dogs after recovering from a calf injury.
Hawthorn and Port Adelaide will meet at Adelaide Oval on Friday night, with a preliminary final spot against Sydney on the line.
