HAWTHORN insists forgotten utility Brendan Whitecross remains in contention to play senior football this season, despite being repeatedly overlooked as the Hawks regenerate with youth.

Whitecross, 26, resisted overtures from rival clubs and stayed at Waverley on a one-year deal at the end of last year in the hope of playing in a premiership.

But he hasn't yet added to his 88 senior games in 2016, instead playing all 10 VFL matches for Box Hill, and he faces an uphill battle to unseat one of Hawthorn's prime midfield movers.

"To get in the team he's got to push out Bradley Hill, Billy Hartung or Isaac Smith, because he plays a similar role," general manager of football operations Chris Fagan told AFL.com.au.

"Those guys, other than Hilly missing earlier in the year, have been pretty solid with their form and their fitness.

"So he's (Whitecross) been a consistent performer at Box Hill and he's just got to wait until an opportunity comes up.

"It's not about a youth policy necessarily, but more about who he replaces in the side."

Whitecross, who might have been a multiple premiership player if not for two knee reconstructions, hasn't played senior football since round six last season.

So far this year, Hawthorn has blooded four debutants and tried to hand more opportunities to the likes of Daniel Howe and Jonathan O'Rourke.

Although the regeneration hasn't always been a smooth ride, Alastair Clarkson has still steered the side to the top of the ladder with an 11-3 record.

The Hawks' forward line has also adapted to the absences of spearhead Jarryd Roughead as he undergoes cancer treatment and premiership tall Ryan Schoenmakers, who continues to battle groin trouble.

Schoenmakers was "banged on both hips simultaneously" in round one against Geelong and the 25-year-old hasn't fully recovered, despite playing the next two AFL matches and then making an unsuccessful VFL comeback last month.

"I don't know whether it was the hardness of Etihad Stadium but he didn't pull up well from the round three game against the Bulldogs," Fagan said.

"He's getting better gradually, but it's whether he gets good enough to play again. So we're hopeful, are we confident? Not really, we don't know.

"Hopeful but uncertain is how I would describe it."

The Hawks are also in the dark about when Jack Fitzpatrick will be available, with the former Demons tall still suffering lingering effects of concussion after he was kneed in the head more than six weeks ago.

"From what I can gather, all concussions are quite different and some guys take longer to get over them than others and Jack's just one of those guys that takes a fair bit of time," Fagan said.

"Michael Makdissi, our club doctor, is quite an expert in the concussion field and they don't take any risks whatsoever.

"Again, I can't put a timeframe on it, it could be next week, it might be a while."

Meanwhile, exciting 191cm forward Ryan Burton – the 19^th pick in last year's draft – is progressing "steadily" after having a knee operation in April.

Burton, who missed his entire draft year with the serious knee injury, made it back for two VFL matches but struggled to recover from games and was sent in to have a plate and screws removed.

"He's starting to step up his running and he may or may not get back to play, he's recently done about three really good quality running sessions with no knee soreness," Fagan said.

"He might start to do some skills sometime after the break and then it's just a matter of seeing how he progresses.

"If he's right to go he'll play, if he's not he won't. We'll just continue to condition him to be right for next year."