HAWTHORN remains hopeful that midfielder Isaac Smith will be cleared of knee damage and be passed fit to play in their qualifying final next week. 

Smith appeared to hurt the medial ligament in his left knee as he was tackled early in the third quarter of the Hawks' 57-point win over Carlton in the final round at the MCG on Saturday.

The pacy left-footer limped into the rooms for treatment and failed to reappear. 

Sports medico Dr Peter Larkins tweeted: "The way Isaac Smith moved off and the fact he hasn't reappeared... a low grade injury would be 2-3 weeks." 

However, Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson has refused to rule out Smith, saying he would await the results of scans in coming days.

"That tackle has rattled the knee in some way. I'm not sure (of) the severity of it. We don't think it's too bad, but we'll just have to wait and see," Clarkson told the media post-match. 

"Whether it's jarred or … It looked to be more on the medial side than otherwise, so we just need to get that checked out. 

"I haven't spoken to the doc since the game, but (Smith) was obviously not OK to come back on the ground." 

Clarkson said superstar Cyril Rioli was withdrawn due to a bout of gastro, but was confident he and fellow goalkicker Luke Breust would return next week. 

Speaking while likely opponent West Coast hosted St Kilda at Domain Stadium, Clarkson believed his team would once again rise to the challenge, adding that their 14-point win against the Eagles in Perth in round 19 was a psychological boost.

"Not too many sides go over there and win. The fact that we've done it in the last six weeks is pretty handy, to know that they're not invincible on that oval," he said. 

"We're going to need to play at our very, very best to get the job done, and they'll have (ruckman Nic) Naitanui in their side this time around, so that's a little bit different to the last time we played them. 

"But our preparation's been really good and we give ourselves every shot."