Experienced midfielder James Worpel has escaped surgery, with scans revealing "promising" news on his injured ankle.
Playing in the season opener on Friday evening against the Swans, Worpel was injured in the second quarter when a tackle from Brodie Grundy saw his right ankle become trapped underneath him.
Worpel hobbled to the boundary line, where he was assessed by the Hawks medical staff, before being ruled out for the remainder of the match.
He watched on from the sidelines as the impressive Hawks went on to secure a solid 20 point win away from home against last year's grand finalists.
Immediately after the game, it was feared that Worpel would miss a significant portion of the season with a syndesmosis injury after the nasty incident.
However, scans have confirmed a tear to his ankle ligament that doesn't require surgery, which will see the classy midfielder three to four weeks of football, leaving him hopeful to return for the Hawks Gather Round clash against the Power.
"He's been for scans and the scans are relatively promising," High Performance Manager Peter Burge said.
"He's got a moderate-grade syndesmosis ankle injury. We're thinking it's a three to four-week turnaround. He certainly won't need any surgery.
"It'll be conservative management like we've done before. We've had Meeky (Lloyd Meek), (Jack) Scrimshaw and Nick Watson last year with the same injury and we were able to turn them around in a pretty reasonable time. We're confident that we'll be able to do the same with this one."
Worpel is likely to miss clashes against Essendon, Carlton and GWS.
Out of contract as a restricted free agent at the end of 2025, Worpel started his season off positively, having 11 disposals and two goal assists inside of a half of football, before being cut down with injury.
Worpel had a career resurgence last season, being one of the most consistent players for Hawthorn during their zero and five start to the season and showcasing a return to his Peter Crimmins Medal winning best.
The 26-year-old averaged 21.8 disposals and 5.4 score involvements per game, becoming a crucial cog in the midfield alongside fellow young guns Will Day and Jai Newcombe.
Worpel's loss will mean that head coach Sam Mitchell and midfield coach David Hale will need to cover his output where he has been a constant threat in attack and a reliable ball user in the forward half.
The loss of the hard-working Worpel will leave an opportunity for young inside midfielders Josh Ward and Henry Hustwaite to showcase their skills for the Hawks, with both looking to secure more game time in the senior side after limited chances in 2024.
The Hawks take on Essendon on Friday evening in their first home game of the season at the MCG, looking to make it two wins to start off their premiership tilt in 2025.
