CYRIL Rioli hasn't yet ruled himself out for the rest of the season, but the Hawthorn superstar concedes a return is a "longshot".

Rioli hasn't played since the Hawks' round eight win over the Brisbane Lions in Launceston, when he suffered a serious posterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee.

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The four-time premiership star revealed the knee was progressing well but he was more likely to remain sidelined because he was lacking strength in his hamstrings.

Rioli has a history of hamstring issues, which forced the Hawks' fitness staff to "rebuild" him at the end of 2014. 

Asked whether he would make it back onto the field this season, Rioli was far from positive.

"Probably not. I don't think I'll play in the next four games," he told ABC radio on Friday night before Hawthorn kept their slim finals hopes alive with a stirring win over Sydney.

"I go about my training as if I'm going to play soon, just to keep me motivated, but it might be a bit of a longshot to be playing again (this season)." 

Describing his long layoff as "a bit frustrating" and "a bit upsetting", Rioli said that given the seriousness of his injury, he was always going to struggle to return. 

"After the scans showed what I had done, time was against me in terms of coming back," he said. 

"I've lost a lot of hamstring strength, so that's probably another thing on top of that. If my hamstring strength isn't great, I probably won't play … 

"The knee's getting a lot better. I've been able to run for four to five weeks now and there hasn't been much swelling, but there's a bit of hammy strength which isn't quite right. 

"So if that's not quite right, in terms of the speed I need to play the game, it's what I need, so it's going to be a tough to try (to play without that). 

"There's a few games left but we'll see how we go … 

"I'm obviously really looking forward to coming back and playing when I can."