ALASTAIR Clarkson expects Cyril Rioli will be available for Hawthorn's preliminary final in a fortnight's time despite the star forward's late withdrawal from the Hawks' qualifying final win over the Sydney Swans on Friday night.
Clarkson said Rioli had been close to playing against the Swans, but was ruled out on Friday morning after the right ankle injury that kept him out of the Hawks' round 23 win over the Swans failed to come up.
"I came to the club this morning expecting that he was going to be playing, so I was a bit dejected at 10 o'clock this morning when our medical team ruled him out," Clarkson said after the Hawks' 54-point victory.
"We haven't taken risks with players right throughout the course of the year. We had three or four guys who didn't play last week's game up in Sydney with just little minor ailments, and Rioli was one of those.
"We thought that it was that minor last week that he was going to get up no worries for this game, but he was just a little bit sore after he did some work on his legs early in the week."
Clarkson said taking a cautious approach with Rioli should hold the 24-year-old in good stead for the preliminary final.
"It works out well for us that he didn't have to put himself at risk tonight because he really wanted to play, but we ended up making the decision that it just wasn't worth it in the end," he said.
Rioli was replaced by Liam Shiels in Friday night's game, with the midfielder finishing with 14 possessions and 1.1.
