Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge has suffered another injury blow, this time to his knee, and is expected to be sidelined for 4-6 weeks.
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Hodge had surgery on Tuesday after scans revealed he had a lateral meniscus tear, which he suffered in last Saturday's big loss to Greater Western Sydney.
It's the second injury of the season for the veteran skipper, after missing rounds two and three with a fractured arm.
Hawks football manager Chris Fagan told the club's website that Hodge suffered the injury in the opening minutes.
"In typical Hodge fashion he says nothing about it, plays the game out but pulled up pretty sore," he said.
If Hodge misses the full six weeks, the Hawks will face Richmond, Fremantle, Sydney, Brisbane Lions, Melbourne and Essendon without their captain.
The week after that – round 13 – looms as a Friday night blockbuster against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.
But the news is not all bad for Hawthorn, with star forward Jarryd Roughead set to resume light training this week.
The 29-year-old has a PCL reconstruction in early February and has been progressing well since his surgery.
It means that the Hawks could be boosted by the returns of Hodge and Roughead just after the halfway mark of the season.
It has been a less than ideal start to 2016 for Hawthorn on the injury front.
The extent of Roughead's injury was known in the pre season, before wrist injuries to both Bradley Hill and Liam Shiels.
And yet despite their injuries, and admissions that they're not playing their best football, the reigning premiers have a 4-2 win/loss record after six games, after scraping out three-point wins over Adelaide, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs.
Fagan said that after a 75-point loss to Greater Western Sydney, the group will be looking to respond strongly.
"The good thing about our group is that they're a proud group, usually when we lose games we bounce back quickly," he said.
"I know the mood around the place this week, that's what the guys are aiming to do and they'll work smartly on the track this week and hopefully show through our performance on Friday night that there's a lot of life left in the Hawthorn team yet."
The club remains unsure if key defender James Frawley will be available for Friday night's match against Richmond after suffering concussion following friendly fire from teammate Ben Stratton.
