Hawks make a push for AFL ruck relief

According the Hawks coach Sam Mitchell, Reeves is more likely than Lynch to face Collingwood’s Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox.

Last week, the 23-year-old, who has appeared in ten senior games, completed one training session and will be put to the test again in the coming days.

Mitchell said, “He’s got enough strength in it now.”

“He’d been pretty safe the previous week, and having a recognised ruck in the side would’ve been nice, but he’d only done one contact session to get there.

“That was enough to technically tick him off but it wasn’t enough for our threshold for a player that we think is going to be important for our future.

Last week, the 23-year-old, who has appeared in ten senior games, completed one training session and will be put to the test again in the coming days.

Mitchell said, “He’s got enough strength in it now.”

“He’d been pretty safe the previous week, and having a recognised ruck in the side would’ve been nice, but he’d only done one contact session to get there.

“That was enough to technically tick him off but it wasn’t enough for our threshold for a player that we think is going to be important for our future.

“We wanted to give him every opportunity to be able to perform at a high level while still having faith in his body.”

“So by the time game time comes around, he’ll have four or five training sessions under his belt, and if he goes through all of them without incident, he’ll be available.”

Since joining Hawthorn from Collingwood in a trade last year, Lynch has suffered two concussions this season.

These issues, along with a stint in health and safety protocols, food poisoning, and an anaphylactic reaction to a bee sting, have limited him to just six games for the Hawks thus far.

Lynch might be in contention for the round 13 encounter with Fremantle if he is not cleared to play against his former club.

“Obviously, we won’t risk him if he has any indicators or any form of worry,” Mitchell added.

“However, it was a minor incident that he had, so we believe he’ll play.”