Fresh Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli doesn't want a break

HAWTHORN dynamo Cyril Rioli says he is in top shape as the Hawks prepare for their shot at glory later this month.

Cyril Rioli

HAWTHORN dynamo Cyril Rioli says he is in top shape as the Hawks prepare for their shot at glory later this month.

Rioli missed two games with a shoulder injury after copping a knock against Port Adelaide in Round 20 and was reintroduced as the sub in the Round 23 win against West Coast at the MCG.

The 23-year-old also appeared to grab at his hamstring in the qualifying final win against Collingwood last week, but allayed fears he had injured himself with a withering burst towards the forward line soon after.

Rioli said he could not be in better shape coming in to next week's preliminary final.

"The legs are fine and the body is fine,'' Rioli said this week.

"It's still sort of good to get back and have a full game, it was a bit hard being the sub last week, so I had a lot of fun out there.''

While most teams are content to have semi-final week off knowing a prelim awaits, Rioli said, on a personal note, he sort of wished he was playing this weekend.

"I think the boys would love to be playing this week,'' he said.

"Having a week off, with footy, it's a bit difficult knowing that other teams are out there playing.''

Both Jordan Lewis (hamstring tightness) and Clinton Young (calf) missed the win over the Pies, but Rioli said the pair would "definitely'' be back next week.

"It was just a bit of a risk going in to a final (when) they were a bit tight, so we just thought we'd rest them up but they'll definitely be back.''

The Hawks will play the winner of tomorrow night's clash between Adelaide and Fremantle at AAMI Stadium.

The players won't travel to South Australia to watch the game, but star forward Lance Franklin said they would be interested onlookers from afar.

"I think the boys will probably get together or watch it with a couple of the boys to see who we're going to play,'' Franklin said.

"It's going to be interesting.''

The preliminary final will be played as a Saturday twilight game, with the bounce to take place at 5.15pm - a first for a Melbourne final.

Sydney will take on the winner of Saturday's Collingwood-West Coast clash on the Friday night, the only time ANZ Stadium is available because an NRL preliminary final has been booked for the Saturday night.

That the Hawks have not been given the earlier slot traditionally reserved for the minor premier has been labelled as unfair in some quarters.

But Franklin said the he was unconcerned by the fact the players will have a day less to prepare for a Grand Final, should it get there, than the other preliminary finalists.

"We haven't really thought about it at all to be honest, we're just excited to get ourselves in a position to play in a prelim and hopefully in to a Grand Final,'' he said.