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Wednesday, June 3 Hartwig injury unlucky WANGARATTA Rovers coach Matt Allen will continue to support Ovens and Murray interleague matches, despite losing Tyson Hartwig to injury after the star centre-half back was hurt in a collision in the match against Goulburn Valley on May 24. Hartwig was a late withdrawal from the Hawks’ crunch match against North Albury last weekend with sore ribs, and his absence was notable, given he was an automatic selection to match up on Hoppers skipper and league centre-half forward Dan Leslie. Victory on Saturday would have kept the Hawks in touch with the top five, but the 11-point loss they suffered saw them relegated to ninth place on the ladder with just two wins from eight matches, But while conceding Hartwig’s withdrawal was unfortunate, Allen didn’t believe it had cost the Hawks the match, with Ben Kneebone holding his own against Leslie. "It was unfortunate that Tyson couldn’t play," he said. "He was the obvious match-up for Leslie."But at the same time we were really pleased with Ben Kneebone’s game."He kept Leslie to four goals, and if you were offered that at the beginning of the match you would take it." Allen couldn’t confirm the suspicion that Hartwig had cracked a rib, and said the young defender would monitor his own recovery in Melbourne. "He got a hard hit in the interleague match, and he was still pretty sore on Saturday," he said. "He is seeing doctors in Melbourne, and we’ll rely on him to follow their advice and look after himself."It’s too early to tell whether or not he will be available this weekend." While a number of players made themselves unavailable for interleague duties either by their own volition or at the request of their clubs, Allen said the situation wouldn’t deter him from allowing his players to take part in representative matches in the future, although he wasn’t completely satisfied with the way Hartwig’s injury was handled. "My only concern with the situation was that it happened before halftime, and I don’t think they should have sent him back on after that," he said. "But they had a doctor look at him and give him the all-clear, and Tyson wouldn’t have wanted to stay off after that, that’s just the sort of player he is. "But it’s not going to change the way I look at the inter-league matches."Tyson really wanted to play, and I’m glad he was given the opportunity - I’ll back anyone who wants to play interleague."I’ll continue to leave it up to the players - some really strive towards taking part in these matches, and some don’t, and that’s okay, but I won’t be asking anyone not to play." Written by SCOTT ANDERSON.
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