WITH surgery on his injured arm a success, Hawks skipper Luke Hodge is eyeing a speedy return.

"I'm not too bad," Hodge told hawthornfc.com.au at the Ricoh Centre today. 

"That's a part of football. We were able to get in and get the op done reasonably quickly, so now it's waiting for it to heal and doing everything right to get back as soon as I can."

While early forecasts have Hodge spending up to six weeks on the sidelines, he's hopeful it could be closer to four.

"That's what they say - you always look for the short of it," Hodge said.

"We've got Adelaide in Round 5 and Greater Western Sydney in Round 6, so hopefully it will be one of those."

With Hodge joining vice-captain Jarryd Roughead and fellow premiership players Liam Shiels and Bradley Hill on the sidelines, there's a wealth of experience unavailable to take on the Eagles.

But he's confident the club's younger brigade can get the job done.

"It's not ideal having a couple of the older guys out, but we've managed that in the past," Hodge said.

"In 2014 we had a number of senior guys out for a long period of time and the young guys stood up. We're looking for the same thing now."