Coach Brad Scott is backing the forward's decision to miss Sunday's game against the fourth-placed Hawks if necessary, to be at the birth of his first child due within days.

"A lot depends how things unfold over the next few days," " Scott said before training on Thursday.

"We've known about this for a long time and it has probably been the last couple of weeks that we have really locked in contingency plans either way.

"It's a case by case basis.

"To me it's firmly up to the player, what he feels most comfortable doing, and Shaun's really clear that if he misses a game to be at the birth, then that's what has to happen and he wants to do.

"And we fully support him in that."

Higgins trained with the Roos at the Arden St Oval, along with defender Luke McDonald who was striving to prove he has overcome a leg injury.

"He (McDonald) has to do enough to show he's right," Scott said.

" ... he has still got to be able to function clinically.

"So, if he gets through training, he'll be right," the Roos coach said.

The Kangaroos have the option to send specialist run-with exponent Ben Jacobs to the Hawks' prolific midfielder Tom Mitchell, similar to a tagging role by Melbourne captain Nathan Jones last round.

"We've got to weigh it up," Scott said.

"Just his weight of numbers and his influence, even though he was tagged last week, he was still influential around the clearances.

"We'll have a lot of different plans depending how the game is going.

"It sounds pretty simple but the reality is they (the Hawks) have been a terrific contested and clearance side this year.

"And they're building some depth through their midfield and have a really solid defence.

"If you look at their forward half ... they've still got Luke Breust in his All Australian form and Jarman Impey has been a great inclusion.

"So, they've got a lot of quality across all lines ... "

Scott said his Kangaroos, who have started with two wins and two losses, were still working on aspects of their set-ups and systems from the pre-season.

"The competition fluctuates and we've been on both sides of it this year," he said.

"We've been a little bit off and been beaten and potentially the opposition has been a little bit off and we've been able to capitalise.

"We're going OK, but by no stretch are we getting ahead of ourselves."

Australian Associated Press