HAWTHORN has left out veteran midfielder Brad Sewell for the AFL grand final against Sydney on Saturday.
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Sewell was missing from the line-up on Thursday night, but has been named as one of three emergencies for the biggest game of the year.
It is a disappointing blow for the Hawks’ dual premiership player, who was axed from the side leading into the club’s preliminary final against Port Adelaide at the weekend.
Sewell, 30, was instead pencilled in for the Victorian Football League grand final at the weekend with the Hawks’ partner Box Hill but was a late scratching.
The Hawks opted to hold him over as insurance for midfielder Jordan Lewis, who sustained a corked thigh in the win against the Power a night earlier.
However, Hawthorn did make two changes to the side that pipped Port Adelaide in the preliminary final.
Cyril Rioli and Ben McEvoy have been named instead of Jonathon Ceglar and Jonathan Simpkin.
Sydney named an unchanged side, as coach John Longmire is happy to rely on the same 22 players who delivered victory in weeks one and three of the finals.
Rioli has not played an AFL match since round 15 because of a serious hamstring injury.
He returned in Sunday’s VFL grand final, sitting out the final quarter.
“He looked really good and I suppose if the coaches had any doubt they probably have a bigger headache now,” Hawks midfield Jordan Lewis said of Rioli after Thursday’s one-hour training session at Waverley Park.
“He trained really well.”
McEvoy, the club’s prized off-season recruit, has not played in the AFL since round 21 because of Ceglar’s form.
McEvoy knows the devastation Ceglar would be feeling well, having been dropped by St Kilda coach Ross Lyon for the 2010 grand final.
Sewell, who hails from Newlyn, has had an interrupted season, waiting until round 10 to play his first game of 2014 and then injuring his hamstring in round 16.
He made a late season return via Box Hill for three more AFL games, including his 200th match in the qualifying final win against Geelong before being dropped.
Sewell, who was initially rookied by the Hawks in 2001 from the North Ballarat Rebels, played in Hawthorn’s 2008 and 2013 premiership sides and played in the losing grand final to Sydney in 2012.
Meanwhile, Redan and North Ballarat Roosters premiership player Isaac Smith will line up for the Hawks on Saturday, while ex-Rebels Adam Goodes and Jake Lloyd are named in the Sydney team.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au