HAWTHORN has dismissed speculation Luke Hodge's achilles issue is threatening his position in the Hawks' round one side to face Adelaide.

Hodge, 26, has been unsighted in any of the club's pre-season matches after reporting soreness in the tendon in January, but Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans said it was wrong to assume the injury was worse than had been first reported.

"We'd expect him to be up and about for round one," Evans told afl.com.au.

"People think we're duck shoving an answer [on Hodge's fitness], but it really is about assessing whatever level he gets to and then working out where he goes to from there.

"The good thing is that he's progressing - that's the best thing here. So he's not getting worse, it's not going backwards, it's not even just remaining as is - he's progressing.

"Tendons are difficult to predict in terms of their progress. It's more about 'what is he getting through now and what's the next level he can get to in the next week?'

"If people were at training on Thursday they would have seen him training with the main group which is always a positive sign."

Training in preparation for a practice match differs from strict conditioning work and Evans agreed the Hawks' fitness staff, led by Andrew Russell, had a tricky decision to make on whether Hodge took to the field at all before round one.

"Do you drop back on the training you're doing now so that you can get into a game or do you train harder so you're better prepared for playing in round one?" Evans said.

"With a player like Hodgey you never have to worry about his level of competitiveness [if he doesn't play in a practice match] because of the character he is, but it's just an interesting phase where you've only got three weeks."

Unlucky ruckman Max Bailey has also failed to make an appearance during Hawthorn's pre-season match schedule after reporting soreness in the reconstructed knee that kept him out for the entire 2010 season.

Bailey pulled up sore after playing in the Hawks' intra-club match in Launceston last month, but Evans moved to allay fears he had sustained further damage to the joint.

"Max is back into full training and he made some particularly good progress last week," he said.

"One of the things you find when there's some damage to the surface of the joint is that it sometimes takes a while to work out the correct management practices for it.

"It's more of a management issue to find out what level that Max can work at and play at to be able to get through not just one game, but to get through multiple games in a row."

The club faces a similar dilemma with the ruckman as it does with Hodge in terms of making an appearance in a practice match, but whichever way the decision goes Evans said it was probable Bailey would need to spend some time in the VFL before pushing his claims for a senior berth.

"They're making progress but it's just difficult to make a solid call as to when they'll play," he said of the pair.

Chance Bateman is set to play in next week's NAB Challenge match in Launceston after being slowed recently by a minor rolled ankle.

Evans said a decision on the club's remaining rookie berth was still pending with all three players - Paul Johnson, Travis Tuck and Nathan Ahmat-Watkins - still in with a chance.

Luke Hodge is a $428,300 midfielder in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.

Max Bailey is a $97,600 ruckman in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.