The Hawks dropped three of four games without their star scorer who tore a blood vessel in his hamstring in a win over New Zeland a month ago. 

His return to the floor on Saturday was a welcome one and proved crucial with the Kiwi great scoring 28 points in just 25 minutes on court, including the clutch three that sent the match into overtime.

Beveridge said post-match that Penney would not have even been on the floor at the important moment had he not ignored medical advice to limit the 35-year-old’s minutes in his first game back.

‘‘It’s one of those things that when it came to crunch time in overtime I looked [sheepishly] at the medical staff,’’ Beveridge said.

‘‘We met with the medical staff, the strength and conditioning and the doctor in particular only wanted 15-20 [minutes] so we actually had watches monitoring that.

‘‘It was hard for him because when you’re get in a low at times and knock down a couple of threes and you sub him out...I know he was pretty filthy.’’

The gamble ultimately paid off with Penney helping to secure a finals berth just a season after picking up the wooden spoon.

With a six-day break ahead of the Hawks final-round clash with Adelaide Penney is confident he’ll have shaken off all the rust come week one of the post-season.

‘‘It was great to be back out there again,” Penney said.

‘‘It was a strange game for me personally because I was being held back and I was on my bike watching and then I was back in.

‘‘The flow was so different to normal but that’s just how it was.

‘‘That was what the medical staff decided to do and you live with that. I was just stoked we got the win.

‘‘For so much of the game I was watching thinking ‘this is a Townsville game’. We’ve seen them beat every team and that’s exactly how they do it.

‘‘We were completely being sucked into that but to be able to pull it out when it matters is a pretty rewarding feeling.’’

Beveridge jokingly described the result as being ‘‘never in doubt’’ but said the match, in which they were hammered 46-23 on the rebound count and trailed by nine with two minutes remainging, was a wake up call with finals now just two weeks away.

‘‘The boys know. We’ve got a bunch of veterans and this kick up the bum is going to be good for us,” he said.