Rioli has battled hamstring issues over the past two seasons, and hasn't played since round 15. He managed 15 games last yearand has played 11 this season.

Coach Alastair Clarkson revealed on Thursday that Rioli's recovery was behind schedule and the Hawks were preparing to play finals without him.

"He's got an injury that's pretty serious," Clarkson said. "He's missed a lot of footy.

"He had a scan two or three weeks ago that showed his progress hadn't advanced to the level we'd hoped it would, but that doesn't mean he's been ruled out either.

"We're going to give him every chance to try and play, but we're not going to put him and our team at risk either.

"We've been able to manage OK without him thus far, and if we have to go through finals without him again, that's what we'll do."

Clarkson can count on forward Jack Gunston despite concerns after he injured an ankle against Geelong last round. Matt Suckling is expected to miss this week against Collingwood but should be back for the Hawks' first final.

Collingwood has been decimated by a swathe of injuries to key players, and the Hawks face a very makeshift opponent. However Clarkson emphasised the Magpies were playing for a place in the finals and he would not be underestimating their intensity and desire.

"We've got a great opponent in Collingwood who are fierce competitors and have been great opponents of ours for a long period of time. Irrespective of anyone's position on the ladder, it's always a great game against the Pies.

"They're currently (ninth and) fighting for a position in the eight. Irrespective of the personnel they've got available, we know they're going to come out fighting trying to do everything they can to win that game of footy. Which is fantastic for us because we want that sort of challenge leading into finals.

"The last two weeks we've had games against other finals aspirants in Fremantle and Geelong. We've performed OK in those games without doing it really well."

Clarkson ruled out resting players such as veteran Luke Hodge saying team continuity was more important than player management.

"All our guys are out here training and if they all pull up fine, they're going to play.

"Other clubs choose to do it in a different way, but the formula for us is usually if we keep our players together that's usually a good preparation for our finals campaign."

David Hale and John Ceglar kept ruckman Ben McEvoy in the VFL last week and both performed well.

Clarkson said the selection of ruckmen would be as much about strategy and match-ups as form, keeping open the option to play with one, two or all three in the side.