MOYHU coach John McNamara says he has not given up hope of securing a top-four spot and the double chance that comes with it, despite missing several stars due to injury.
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The Hoppers have been hit hard by the injury curse as they attempt to win consecutive flags for the first time since 2005-06, but have already welcomed back David Renton from an ankle injury and Scott Van Der Heyden from a knee complaint.
Ryan Craig (knee) and Nathan Waite (broken finger) could return within a month, but three-time best-and-fairest winner Jaimon McGeehan (broken foot) and skipper Andrew Balfour (broken ribs and punctured lung) are no certainties to play again this season.
Fourth-placed Moyhu, which hosts second-placed North Wangaratta on Saturday, has a favourable draw and would be expected to win at least five of its last eight games.
McNamara predicted his side to be hard to beat once its key players returned.
“The last month’s been tough enough,” he said.
“We’ve obviously lost our top five or six players.
“If we can ride the injuries a bit and then get a few back we can have a crack then.
“It will be another three or four weeks until we see some of those faces coming back.
“If we can win the games we are supposed to win and be competitive in the others hopefully we can stay in touch with the top four.”
Despite being knocked off the top of the ladder after an 11-point home loss to Milawa last week, the Hawks are favourites to win their ninth game of the season.
But they will be sweating on the availability of playing coach David Steer, who was reported by central umpires Brendan Schutt and Daniel Grima for striking Demon Simon Pane in the fourth quarter last week.
A league official said yesterday that the tribunal was likely to sit as late as Friday, due to umpire availability.
McNamara said he was not surprised with the Hawks’ strong start to the season.
“They’ve been the form side, along with Milawa, so they’ll be tough,” he said.
“They recruited well and were always going to be around the mark.
“They’ve got a few fellas with Ovens and Murray experience and that certainly makes a huge difference.”
Saturday’s match is another tough one for the Hawks, who have games against top eight sides Tarrawingee, King Valley and Greta to come in the next five weeks.
