“Be crazy not to”: Why Cornes expects Hawks to target sore Butters in Semi-Final

Will Hawthorn target Zak Butters’ sore ribs in Friday night’s Semi-Final at the Adelaide Oval?

Power great Kane Cornes certainly expects them to do so after the club confirmed his availability for the big clash on Tuesday.

The star midfielder was subbed out of last week’s Qualifying Final with a rib injury but after scans confirmed that he didn’t suffer any broken bones, he’ll play against the Hawks despite only being on light duties at training on Tuesday.

SEN Breakfast host Tim Watson asked Cornes whether the Hawks will go after Butters physically and while Port Adelaide premiership player doesn’t expect anything untoward to happen to the 24-year-old, he is expecting him to get some extra treatment when he’s tackled or in contested situations.

Watson: “What about Butters this weekend? Port Adelaide said that he will play this weekend.

“We know that he's had a knock to the ribs, but he's been cleared of any serious damage to the ribs.

“This is a man's game. This is a brutal game. This is a final. Do you target him if you're Hawthorn in any way?

“Do you make a note of the fact that, ‘Ok, this guy's sore, if you get the opportunity…’. I’m not saying you go outside the rules, whack him, belt him or anything like that.

“But do you make sure that any chance you get to tackle him you tackle him hard to the ground?”

Cornes: “Yes, and I think you put it perfectly.

“You don't go out of your way to do it. You don't hit him off the ball and risk getting a suspension.

“But if he's there to be tackled, do you give it some extra oomph? Do you put your hand on him as you get up off the ground?

“Steven May played against Adelaide early on in the year and he had genuinely broken ribs and he played on Taylor Walker … May in the first content went back and took an intercept mark.

“I just thought there was an opportunity to go force or make some contact. They didn't do that, and he started really well.

“That's the opportunity and Zak has shown that he's probably just a little bit vulnerable with the off-the-ball stuff and you can get under his skin.

“I think they’d be crazy not to do that in a final with this much significance on the line.”

The teams for Friday’s big clash will be revealed at 6:20 pm (AEST) on Thursday.