HAWTHORN supporters may have had their hearts in their mouths when Luke Hodge copped a bone-jarring hit to the ribs in the first quarter of Saturday night's preliminary final win, but the key playmaker played down the seriousness of the collision after the match.

Hodge was left spitting blood after colliding heavily in a marking contest with Saints big man Justin Koschitzke.

He played on despite leaving the ground early in the second quarter, finishing with 24 touches and 11 marks.

Soon after the clash, television footage showed Hodge, named in the All-Australian team on Monday, clutching his ribs and spitting blood, sparking fears of serious damage.

"It was just a normal knock, everyone gets them during a game, so it's nothing to worry about," Hodge said afterwards.

"The way I ran the game out it felt like there were no problems, unless I pull up sore tomorrow, but at this stage I'm feeling fine.

"Obviously in the first couple of minutes after you get hit you think, 'Oh, it's not good', but once I went off and had a drink and a bit of a breather it was no problems.

"It's a knock you get in football. I think you're making a bigger deal of it than it really was. It was a knock and everyone cops them in a game."

He was examined by club doctors at length during the quarter-time break, but took his spot in the Hawks' defence as the second term got underway, only to leave the ground in obvious pain after a clash with Robert Eddy 10 minutes in.

But, again, it was a case of 'nothing to see here, move along' according to Hodge.

"When I came off it was just more to get a check from the docs to make sure everything was alright," he said.

"They had the ball and I just thought there was no point in me staying on the ground for two or three minutes if I can't do anything. Because I was so close to the boundary I thought I would go off and get a fresh bloke back on until I freshened up."