Ben back and flying

WHEN Ben McEvoy broke his cheekbone six weeks ago, he was left hoping that Hawthorn might be able to sneak into the finals.

Now they’re eyeing a prized top-four spot and an assault on the premiership.

The ruckman made his return on Saturday night with a 32-hitout, two-goal showing with coach Alastair Clarkson “rapt” to have the tall back on deck. But McEvoy said he feared as he embarked on his recovery that there may not be many games left to return for.

“I’m rapt with that result [to be playing Sydney for a top-four position] because I remember when I did get injured I was thinking ‘hopefully the boys can play well and win some games so we can play finals’,” he said. “I wanted something to come back for. So credit to them that the guys have played some good footy over the last six weeks.”

McEvoy, 29, conceded he was “a bit dubious” about the serious cheekbone injury that required plates to be inserted into his eye socket — his first injury of that kind he had experienced.

“There are some cheekbones you can come back in one or two weeks, which is fortunate for some, but that wasn’t Ben’s case — his was a pretty serious knock,” Clarkson said after the four-point win over St Kilda.

The Hawks’ return to the top-four is a far cry from what McEvoy described as a “deplorable” start to last season, which saw them 1-6 before missing the finals.

And he said the taste of disappointment had only fuelled the group’s hunger for what it could achieve over the next month.

“I’m really grateful for that because we learned some hard lessons in a short space of time and didn’t have to have a drop-off for a long period of time,” he said.