Hawthorn premiership defender Trent Croad's AFL future remains clouded as a rare and persistent foot injury threatens to prematurely end the 29-year-old's career.

Croad has not played at all this season after he broke his foot during last year's grand final.

Surgery and subsequent setbacks mean he has already been ruled out for the rest of 2009.

Hawks skipper Sam Mitchell said the club was still weighing up how best to treat Croad's problem, saying "new information" was received on the injury at the weekend.

"Obviously it takes a little bit of time to process that from both his point of view and from a medical point of view, what sort of surgery can be done and what it's going to do for his footy," Mitchell said.

"No decision has been made, but there's a lot of information that's been collated now and both he and the club are going to work out what the best thing to do is now."

"It's an unusual injury. It's not like he has a knee and we can look at this guy and we can look at the other 50 cases - there's not really anything to look at.

"The club are doing all their due diligence, looking at international surgeons, seeing if people have done it somewhere else before.

"All of this stuff takes time. Everyone wants an answer but the answer is not going to be that simple."

Mitchell admits it is "unbelievable" his side remain in the finals race despite losing their past three matches.

The premiers butchered another chance to put themselves in pole position to take eighth spot ahead of next month's finals with a loss to under-strength St Kilda in Launceston last weekend.

But Essendon's draw with Brisbane and Port Adelaide's defeat by Fremantle on Sunday have left the door ajar for the Hawks in a race no one seems to want to win.

Sydney have also joined the hunt for the last finals spot with their big win over Richmond on Sunday, and 11 wins now looks enough to secure a top eight position.

With three matches remaining, the Hawks have eight victories and are now a win behind Port.

But Mitchell said the Hawks were a fair way off the sort of form needed to be competitive in the finals even if they were to get there.

"We need to try and get ourselves into the sort of form that we could actually be competitive in a final," Mitchell said.

"A fair bit (off that sort of form) if you look at the weekend. But having said that two weeks ago we played some reasonable footy and lost by a point to Geelong.

"The last few weeks have obviously been disappointing, but as quick as it can turn bad, it can turn good."

The Hawks take on Adelaide at the MCG on Friday night.

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