Cyril Rioli may not be match fit next Saturday, but on Hawthorn's past form this AFL season you can expect him to be match ready if selected.
Rioli suffered a serious hamstring injury in round 15 and and will be desperate to return for the side's preliminary final against either Fremantle or Port Adelaide.
Coach Alastair Clarkson will of course err on the side of caution, if Rioli's body isn't ready there is no chance he will select the 25-year-old.
But should Rioli pass a fitness test, Clarkson will be faced with a conundrum.
Does the two-time premiership coach roll the dice on a player who hasn't played in almost three months?
Clarkson will seek guidance from his colleagues, who rehabilitated stars Sam Mitchell (hamstring) and Josh Gibson (pectoral) to perfection earlier this season.
Mitchell and Gibson were both hammered on the training track, making seamless returns to the AFL despite layoffs of over two months.
"Definitely when I came back in, I didn't really feel like I'd just missed eight or 10 weeks," Gibson told AAP at the recent AFLPA awards night.
"The touch was still a little bit off, because there's nothing like playing games.
"But credit to the fitness guys, they've prepped us all so well and I certainly felt ready to go (while returning in round 18)."
Mitchell echoed his premiership teammate's thoughts earlier in the season.
"They get you to a position where you're confident. There's no inhibitions about what you can or can't do," he said of fitness coach Andrew Russell and the Hawks' medical team.
Gibson said it was too early to know whether Rioli and Matt Suckling (knee) would play at the MCG, where victory will lift the Hawks into a second grand final in as many years.
The 30-year-old noted consistency underlined his side's win over Geelong in week one of the finals and would again be key next week.
"A few things stood out (in Monday's review). I can't give too much away," Gibson said.
"Probably just the good consistent effort ... the last few weeks (before the qualifying final) we started a little bit slowly.
"So the way we started (against the Cats) was promising .. but that game is over. We have a prelim to get ready for."
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