HAWTHORN is expecting to be without star forward Cyril Rioli for "around a month" after he injured his hamstring in the win over Gold Coast in Launceston on Sunday.
While the extent of the injury will be determined following scans on Sunday, stand-in coach Brendon Bolton confirmed it's the same leg he injured against the Sydney Swans in May.
"I don't think it's a bad hamstring, but he just runs so quick," Bolton said.
"I don't know exactly how long it will be but I would think somewhere around a month.
"That's only guessing, I haven't spoken to the medicos yet.
"He'll go through due process. They all get scans and they all get checked thoroughly and he'll do that tomorrow I would have thought.
"I don't think it's as significant a hamstring like Sam Mitchell has had but most times you say around a month when someone gives a bit of a nick.
"Disappointing, but we've faced injuries and a lot of injuries over the past five or six weeks so, likewise, someone will jump up and that's what happens at AFL level."
The injury occurred as Rioli raced onto a loose ball in the centre of Aurora Stadium, the livewire forward obviously frustrated as he lay prone in the centre square, slapping the ground before trudging off to the bench to sit out the rest of the match.
Adding insult to the Rioli injury, Grant Birchall had been subbed out just minutes before and Luke Breust also faced an extended spell on the bench during the final term after suffering a knock to the head that saw Suns defender Jarrod Harbrow reported for striking, dramatically reducing Hawthorn's ability to rotate players late in the game.
But with the match long won, the Hawks were able to hang on for the final siren and Bolton was particularly complementary of his side's ability to tough out the victory on a gloomy, rain-soaked day.
"They were really, really trying conditions today and it comes back to the essence of the game, just being able to take yards and win contested possession, put your head over the footy, all the things that any footy club around Australia would be talking about," he said.
"I thought we were tough and hard today."
