Hawthorn will hope midfielder Conor Nash will be afforded the needed time to recover from a corked quad sustained in Saturday's match against North Melbourne
Nash came from the field midway through the third quarter of the match in Tasmania after a crunching tackle from Kangaroos ruckman Tristan Xerri that saw the Roos big man's knee crash into Nash's thigh.
The Irishman was proppy in returning to his feet and in the moments after, with Nash eventually coming from the field and undergoing medical assessment before returning to play.
The Hawks soon decided to sub Nash out of the game in a conservative move that would rule out any potential risk of further damage to the onballer's ailment, with veteran Luke Breust activated into the match.
Conor Nash has been subbed off and Luke Breust has been activated as our sub
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) August 24, 2024
Signs suggest Nash won't require a spell out of action, with the upcoming pre-finals bye likely to guarantee his chances of playing in the Hawks' opening game in September.
Coach Sam Mitchell said after the Hawks' win that the situation of the game at the time of Nash's concern made the decision easier than other weeks.
"We had a bit of a lead at that stage and we were talking about trying to get Luke Breust a bit of game time, because he obviously played quite a bit last week," the Hawks coach said.
"We wanted to pull the sub reasonably quickly. 'Nashy' got a corkie and he wasn't moving around too well. He's obviously a pretty important player for us, so once we got him out of the game that meant we could bring Breust in.
"It should hopefully be a pretty fit squad going into finals."
While the Hawks will hope Nash faces an uninterrupted coming week as the Hawks prepare for their first final since 2018, reigning best and fairest winner Will Day is absent with a shoulder issue.
Day's return timeframe remains unclear, with the gun midfielder set for further assessment over the next week, while defender Changkuoth Jiath is expected to be available for the Hawks' first final as he deals with a calf issue.
Small forward Nick Watson dealt with a calf complaint during the game against North Melbourne but returned to the action soon after.
Hawthorn won't know who they will play in the opening week of the finals series until Sunday's results are complete.
