Cyril Rioli won't face a late fitness test ahead of Saturday night's clash against Collingwood, with Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson declaring the star forward 'right to go'.
Rioli has not played since Round 8 last season after injuring his posterior cruciate ligament, while he had a disrupted pre-season, spending extended time in the Northern Territory with his family after his father suffered a heart attack late last year.
Last week, Hawthorn skipper Jarryd Roughead insisted the Hawks would not rush Rioli's comeback, saying they would rather he returned after Round 1 if that meant he was a better chance of getting through the season without any further injury setbacks.
However, Clarkson told reporters on Friday Rioli's recent performances on the training track had proven he was ready to play again.
"Cyril has had a really strong block of training over the last eight to 10 weeks, and in particular the last four weeks he's really stepped up, and if we thought he was any risk then we wouldn't play him this week," Clarkson said.
"But his training over the last four weeks has been superb. When he puts his hand up to be available, it's very hard to say, 'No, I don't think you should play.'
"We're pretty excited that he's playing."
Asked whether Rioli had to pass a fitness test before being cleared to play on Saturday night, Clarkson said, "No, he's right to go."
The Hawks coach was also hopeful that Jaeger O'Meara was finally over the knee problems that restricted him to just six games in his first season at Waverley last year.
The 2013 NAB AFL Rising Star ruptured his right patella tendon playing for Gold Coast in a NEAFL practice match ahead of the 2015 season, and did not play a senior game for the next two seasons before crossing to Hawthorn in the 2016 Trade Period.
After returning to play last year's final two home and away rounds, O'Meara has enjoyed a solid 2018 pre-season that included strong performances in the Hawks' two JLT Community Series games.
"In the backend of last year he started to show some continuity with his footy but then the season ended, which was unfortunate for him and unfortunate for us too because we were enjoying what we saw in the second half of last year for our club," Clarkson said.
"Hopefully we can push on and keep that sort of upward momentum in the early part of this year.
"He's just an important cog in that midfield that will hopefully give us a little bit more depth and quality through that part of the ground.
"He's had a summer with no complications so we're hopeful that [his knee problems] are all behind him now."
