GRAND Final fairytale story Jonathan Simpkin was picked over his Hawthorn teammates because coach Alastair Clarkson believed he would give the the Hawks the best chance of winning the premiership.

Simpkin has come in for the injured Brendan Whitecross, who has undergone a second reconstruction on his right knee in 12 months after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament last week against Geelong.

Clarkson said it had been a tough decision to choose the replacement, after a handful of strong performances in Box Hill's VFL Grand Final win over Geelong last Sunday.

Jed Anderson, Shane Savage, Taylor Duryea and Kyle Cheney were also in the selection mix for Saturday's decider against Fremantle at the MCG.

But the coaches believed the versatile utility in Simpkin had the best attributes to offer when weighing up the team's requirements against the Dockers.

"It comes down to splitting hairs, really," Clarkson said.

"We went into the Box Hill game last Sunday wanting to give five or six of them the chance of performing well in that game, and giving ourselves a selection opportunity in terms of a mixture of players.

"We just thought over the course of the week, Simpkin was the one who best suited our needs for this particular time.

"We've got four or five realistic boys, just like Freo, they've got a good list to pick from too and they've got some guys who are unfortunately going to miss out too.

"You go with the squad you think is going to give you the best chance of winning the game and we thought [Simpkin] coming into our side would help us in that regard."

Clarkson gathered the group in contention together on Thursday afternoon and let Simpkin know he was the chosen one.

Having been signed by the Hawks as a delisted free agent at the end of last season following largely unsuccessful stints on both the Sydney Swans and Geelong rookie lists, Simpkin has played 13 games this year.

He last played in round 20 against St Kilda.

Clarkson said the 25-year-old had grown as a player since becoming a Hawk and deserved his opportunity.

"It's been a tough, hard journey for him," he said.

"He's been at three really good clubs but for whole host of reasons it didn't work out so well at his two previous clubs.

"He's learned a lot of lessons along the way, is a good Colac lad - we like the blood out of Colac - and he gets his chance tomorrow.

"He's made a really important contribution to us over the course of the season and we're delighted to have him in the side this time around."

Clarkson said the Hawks had kept their preparation pretty similar to the way they approached last year's Grand Final, which they lost to the Swans.

Captain Luke Hodge said the team was in "good shape" and, like Fremantle, had entered the finals playing solid football.

He also admitted last year's lost chance had remained with them throughout last summer but their planning this week had been more centred around what they had to do to win than seeking atonement for 2012.  

"It's always going to burn inside you because that's what you play footy for, you play footy to win Grand Finals," Hodge said.

"It was a motivator throughout the pre-season but we were pretty clear early in the year that we were just focusing on getting as far as we could and if we did get a chance to play on the last Saturday in September to take the opportunity.

"Last year's loss will always be with us but as far as a motivator now, it's pretty much in our heads as to what we can do tomorrow and that's about it."