Hawks rest star defender for Dees clash, young gun in frame for return

Tom Barrass will sit out Hawthorn's clash with Melbourne as Sam Mitchell manages the experienced defender's workload with an eye towards the finals

Tom Barrass in action during the R2 match between Hawthorn and Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 20, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

HAWTHORN will manage key defender Tom Barrass this weekend ahead of next week's trip to Darwin to play Gold Coast and will focus on load management at different stages in 2025.

Barrass has played all eight games to start life in brown and gold after moving from West Coast last year, but the 29-year-old has only averaged 14.4 games per season across his career and never played more than 19 games in a season.

The Hawks face the Suns at TIO Stadium next Thursday night before a challenging four-game block ahead of the bye against the past two premiers – Brisbane and Collingwood – at the MCG and then the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium and Adelaide in Launceston.

Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said the club had planned for this with Barrass and will consider a similar move for other experienced players, such as Jack Gunston and Luke Breust, like they've done in the past.

"We look at load management and how we want to manage the list across the whole season and be quite well prepared," Mitchell said at Waverley Park on Thursday morning.

"Tom Barrass won't play this game. When we recruited him, we didn't think he would play every game for the season. He has had a really good block, played every game, been in good form for us.

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"We thought that the chance of him playing every minute of every game consistently was going to be difficult. He could play [this week] but we're going to manage his training loads this week. It won't surprise me if we do that from this point on a couple of times throughout the year.

"It is a challenging period for us with load management and list management. We've also got some guys playing really well that we'd like to give some exposure to. Obviously, winning is first and foremost – we don't want to sacrifice that – but being able to win as many games is the focus."

Sam Frost could return against the Demons for his first game since being the sub in round one. The 31-year-old was a permanent fixture in 2024, but has been squeezed out of Hawthorn's best 23 following the acquisitions of Barrass and Josh Battle.

Sam Frost in action during the R1 match between Hawthorn and Essendon at the MCG on March 14, 2025. Picture: Getty Images/AFL Photos

Young key forward Calsher Dear is being considered for his first AFL appearance of 2025 after banking minutes at Box Hill across the past fortnight.

The 19-year-old was sidelined for four months with a stress fracture in his back after a stunning debut season, where the father-son recruit – who was selected with pick No.57 in the 2023 Telstra AFL Draft – played 17 games after debuting in round eight and kicked 3.4 in the elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs.

"He is getting closer," Mitchell said.

"We will have final match committee after this; I don't want to give away too much. Certainly last week we didn't consider him available and now its whether or not it's best for him to play.

"We'd certainly like to get him back in, so that maybe this week, or maybe a bit further down the road."

Ruckman Lloyd Meek faces one of the toughest tasks in football this weekend with an in-form Max Gawn awaiting after recapturing his best form over the past month to help take Melbourne's season off life support.

Mitchell joked he wished the seven-time All-Australian wasn't still running around at 33, but backed Meek in to limit the influence of the Demons' skipper, who has been the No.1-rated ruck in the AFL since round six.

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"I think he is universally loved, Max Gawn, except for all opposition coaches who wish his age would catch up with him and go off into the sunset as maybe the greatest ruckman ever and just retire and give us all a few less headaches," he said.

"Unfortunately, he is in great form. Meeky has been in really good form for us, too. I'm looking forward to seeing how they go about it. I just wish he would have a week off, but we'll back Meeky in to get the job done."

Half-back Karl Amon trained on Thursday morning and is set to exit concussion protocols and return against Melbourne after missing last Sunday's centenary celebration win over Richmond at the MCG.

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