Jarryd Roughead will more than likely retain his spot after returning in Hawthorn's loss to Sydney but the veteran's days in the AFL could be numbered unless his team start winning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Roughead was dumped after the Hawks' loss to Melbourne on May 7.
The four-time premiership forward's stint in the VFL lasted until Friday night, when he booted one goal in Hawthorn's 19-point loss to the Swans at the SCG.
"More than likely but we haven't even looked at it yet," Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said, when asked if Roughead will play against West Coast at the MCG next Saturday.
"If we believe Roughy can make a contribution and help us win a game, we'll select him. If for whatever reason we don't think that then another player will get a go.
"Probably the more games that you lose however, the more likely you are to start looking to the future than right now.
"But we'll just wait and see how that all pans out. Rough knows where he sits."
Clarkson noted the opposition would also factor in ongoing selection discussions about the 282-gamer, who is expected to retire later this year.
The Hawks' recent scoring woes continued against Sydney, when they had nine individual goal-kickers but were restricted to 9.9 (63).
Clarkson bemoaned the quality and quantity of Hawthorn's forward entries.
"Seven times we went inside 50m in the first quarter then eight times in the last quarter. Unfortunately that's not going to give you a genuine chance to win games of footy," Clarkson said.
"Nor is it going to give your forwards much of a chance to shine.
"He (Roughead) did OK but we only had 43 inside-50s. So, same with (James) Sicily being forward, it's pretty hard to assess your forward group when you're just not getting it in there."
Sicily could return to an undermanned defence next week, when skipper Ben Stratton will serve the second game of this two-match suspension.
"That (playing Sicily forward) hasn't worked for us but it's only been two games," Clarkson said.
"Do we keep trying that or take him back to where he's played his best footy over the last 18 months? We just need to explore that.
"We've got to work out a way to score a little bit better ... we'll work on what we can do to put together a side that's going to help us win our next piece of silverware."
Australian Associated Press
