'Zigged when he should've zagged': Hawks young gun concussed while boxing at training
Hawthorn assistant coach Craig McRae has revealed young gun Mitch Lewis suffered a concussion while doing boxing during the club's midweek training session.
Lewis was a surprise addition to the Hawks' injury list when its team to take on Sydney in Round 13 was announced.
In the lead-up to the Swans clash, McRae explained that the 22-year-old forward copped a hit because he "zigged when he should have zagged".
"It's a shame. I've put a lot of time into Mitch and have great belief he can make it at this level consistently. He's shown some great signs of that," McRae told AFL Nation.
Mitch Lewis (R) celebrates a goal with teammates Jack Gunston (L) and Luke Breust (C) Getty
"He zigged when he should've zagged and copped one and unfortunately he's not going to be there tonight."
"We were just doing some body punches to be honest and he ducked.
"It was an unfortunate incident and we'll miss him."
Following Hawthorn's stunning 38-point win over the Sydney Swans in Round 13, coach Alastair Clarkson denied that the team had turned to sparring sessions to instill some toughess during the bye week after a disappointing first half of the year.
Alastair Clarkson says Hawthorn's players spar with each other every week and played down the incident Getty
"Boxing is a part of our program every week," Clarkson said.
"We've been involved in 12 games this year and our players have boxed every week, so that was just an unfortunate incident.
"We were sparring on Monday and Mitch zigged when he should have zagged and unfortunately copped one on the scone, but hopefully he'll be right to play next week."
Lewis has played eight matches for Hawthorn this season, kicking 12 goals and averaging 9.2 disposals and 3.9 marks per contest.
