HAWTHORN is taking a cautious approach with veteran defender Grant Birchall, with the premiership Hawk expected to return to football in the first half of the season.

Birchall hasn't played since round 15, 2017 with a series of knee injuries sidelining him for the best part of two seasons.

Two separate knee surgeries in early 2018 had the Hawks hopeful he could mount a late-season comeback for finals, but an adductor injury ended his campaign.

Then just before Christmas, the 31-year-old had yet another setback which required surgery to remove floating cartilage from his troublesome right knee.

"Grant's back into full skills, he's actually been back into that program now for two weeks," Hawthorn's physical performance manager Luke Boyd told the club's website.

"So what we are doing now is working on his match fitness to get him ready to play and we expect to see him in the first half of the season."

The luckless Hawk told reporters in Tasmania recently that he was hopeful of a return between rounds four and eight.

He is out of contract at the end of 2019. 

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Meanwhile, boom recruit Chad Wingard has been ruled out of a round one debut after suffering a setback with his troublesome calf.

"It has taken a little bit longer than expected," Boyd said.

"We expect to see him in the early rounds of the season but at this stage he won't be playing round one."

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Fellow recruit Tom Scully has been back into ball work for three weeks and is progressing well as he continues to recover from a broken ankle.

Defender David Mirra (ankle) and midfielder James Worpel (knee) will both be available for selection in the JLT clash against Richmond on Saturday in Launceston after sustaining minor complaints at the weekend.

Star forward Jack Gunston is a test after battling iliotibial band soreness for a couple of weeks.