Hawthorn captain James Sicily has opened up on his “mentally draining” past 12 months with injury as his side prepares for a second consecutive finals campaign, beginning this Saturday against GWS.

The star defender, who missed Rounds 13 to 16 with a lingering hip issue, has produced a strong return to form in the back half of the season after struggling to reach his best in the opening months of 2025.

Speaking to media at Waverley Park on Monday afternoon, the 30-year-old detailed the mental toll of his setbacks.

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“It was challenging. It was probably more mentally draining than the actual physical injury itself,” Sicily said.

“The start of the year I felt fine, then I had some hip and groin issues. The circuit-breaker was awesome in being able to wrap my head around: ‘This is what I’m going to feel like for the rest of the year’, rather than: ‘I hope it gets better’.

“It was a bit of a mentally draining 12 months for me, just being a bit sore and not as healthy as I would’ve wanted.”

In hindsight, criticism of Sicily’s early-season form can be easily traced back to his injury troubles.

The 176-gamer also had shoulder reconstruction surgery last off-season, which hampered the back end of 2024, before completing the most recent pre-season under a modified training program.

That tailored program has now been reintroduced to help manage his hip niggle heading into finals.

“We’ve been able to get a good load management (program) during the week, where I’m able to still do some training (and) not feel sore heading into game day sore (0r) inhibited in any way,” Sicily continued.

“During the year, I wasn’t able to kick how I would like; I had to change the way I would kick because it would hurt.”

“When you’re really confident, you just go into things that been easy when they might not necessarily be. And the opposite happens when you’re down on confidence — it feels like you’ve got dial-up internet in your head, can’t think and can’t process things.”

Teammate Josh Weddle made his return from a back injury sustained in Round 16 on Saturday, getting through Box Hill’s qualifying final against Southport unscathed on managed minutes in a strong bid to earn a senior recall.

Lloyd Meek (left), Josh Weddle (centre-left), James Sicily (centre-right) and Jarman Impey (right) of the Hawks celebrate during the 2025 AFL Round 8 match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Richmond Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 4, 2025 (Photo by Michael Willson via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

The 21-year-old livewire would be a major inclusion for Sam Mitchell’s side, offering versatility and dash rebounding out of defensive 50.

“Yeah, hopefully (he’s fit) … he did some good things, and didn’t quite finish off his good work. But hopefully he plays an important role for us with the way that he goes about it in offence,” Sicily said.

“As a fellow defender, we’d love to see him in the team.

“He could have 10-12 weeks off, and still be the best runner at the club.”

Hawthorn closed out their home-and-away campaign with a 10-point loss to Brisbane at the Gabba, though a statement win over Collingwood a fortnight earlier showed they can still mix it with the competition’s elite.

Only a dramatic one-point defeat to Port Adelaide last September denied Sam Mitchell’s side a preliminary final berth in 2024, after a whirlwind premiership tilt despite starting the season 0-5.

Sicily looks dejected after a loss during the 2024 AFL Second Semi Final match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Hawthorn Hawks at Adelaide Oval on September 13, 2024 (Photo by Michael Willson via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

“We feel as if we’ve been really consistent across all four quarters the last eight weeks. We probably had one bad quarter against Freo in the last, so we feel as though we’re quite consistent,” added Sicily.

“(Last year’s finals) was really awesome. Because of that, we were able to play some bigger games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the MCG … in terms of preparing for occasions, I feel as thought we’re quite comfortable with that now in some bigger games. Touchwood, it doesn’t spook us!

“It would be good to finally break the hoodoo at ENGIE, we haven’t won there so surely we’re due … we’re going to have to be at our best.”

Hawthorn’s elimination final with the Giants kicks off at 3:15pm AEST on Saturday, broadcast live on Foxtel Channel 504 and Kayo.