Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says small forward Cyril Rioli is ready for the big Easter Monday AFL clash with Geelong despite barely training on Sunday.

The match will be the dynamic 20-year-old's first for the year, after groin soreness stopped him playing in the pre-season and the opening round win over Melbourne.

Rioli was a virtual spectator at the Hawks' light Waverley training session, taking to the oval, but standing and watching his teammates go through their paces.

But Clarkson, speaking beforehand, said Rioli would play at the MCG on Monday, along with star forward Lance Franklin and midfielder Chance Bateman, who missed round one through suspension.

"He's been back in full training for three weeks, we nearly played him last week to be fair, but he hadn't done quite enough training and ... hadn't played any NAB Cup games," Clarkson said.

"We're hopeful he'll come in and make a contribution for us.

"He'll go as full throttle as he can. We've just got to manage his game time, we know he's going to be a little bit underdone as far as match conditioning."

Clarkson said the club had been pleased with their pre-season and their 56-point opening round win over Melbourne, but now faced a stern test.

He dismissed the theory that it was a good time to catch the reigning premiers, who delayed the pre-season of their more experienced players and took time to hit top form against Essendon last weekend.

"I don't think there's any good time to come up against the Cats at the moment," Clarkson said.

"They've been a great side for the best part of four years now ... we know we have to play our best footy to beat them and that will certainly be the case again tomorrow."

A major challenge will be in the ruck, where injuries mean youngster Brent Renouf will have little support against Brad Ottens and Mark Blake.

Clarkson said Renouf performed strongly against the Demons, but would be crucial given the class of the Cats' midfield, although he backed his own team's midfield to match any in the AFL.

"It will certainly be an area that's important for us, because if we can get the ball in to our forward half, we've got some really dangerous, damaging forwards that can do some work for us.

"But the great challenge for us is how often we can get it down there."

While the Hawks have three big-name inclusions, Geelong's only team change was replacing veteran defender Darren Milburn (hamstring) with first-gamer Steven Motlop.

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