HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson has underlined the importance of Friday night's NAB Challenge match against Melbourne as his players make their final bids for inclusion in the Hawks' round one side.

Skipper Luke Hodge will miss the clash as he continues to recover from Achilles soreness and Sam Mitchell has been excused to be with his wife who is expecting twins, but otherwise Clarkson has taken a strong line-up to Tasmania.

One of the key positional battles over the summer has been for the spot vacated by Campbell Brown when he departed for Gold Coast.

Mature-aged recruit Paul Puopolo and former Demon Kyle Cheney are seen as the frontrunners in that particular race, but the coach is demanding a strong showing across the board.

"We're going to play 25 or 26 players over the course of the game so it will be an opportunity for all players to put their hands up in a sense," Clarkson said from Melbourne Airport on Thursday.

"Someone's got to replace ‘Browny’ in the side [though]. He's obviously a Gold Coast meter maid now so we've got to have someone else who steps into his shoes.

"Puopolo and Cheney are two of those sorts of guys, but Rick Ladson comes back into the fold after missing a lot of footy in the last two years, and Cameron Bruce comes to the club too.

"Who actually fills ‘Browny's’ shoes, I'm not too sure, but that will unfold over the course of the next two weeks."

Clarkson reiterated his hope that Hodge will be fit to take part in a practice match with Box Hill on the weekend before round one, but remains confident the skipper will lead the side out against the Crows in Adelaide regardless.

"We're pretty certain he's going to be there for round one so we've just got to work out the best program for him over the next couple of weeks in preparation for that," he said.

"He's going to be a little bit underdone match fitness-wise, but I think every side in the competition, at different stages, has got one or two players who haven't had the ideal preparation going into round one. He's going to be one of them for us.”

Brent Renouf has been rested for Friday night's clash after suffering a slight ankle strain in last week's game against Richmond. Renouf’s absence will allow Max Bailey to test his reconstructed knee under match conditions for the first time since the Hawks' intra-club match last month.   

"He hasn't played for a few weeks because he's had a little bit of swelling in his knee after that internal trial down in Tassie. He'll probably play a fair portion of the second half, I'd reckon," Clarkson said of Bailey.

"We're just trying for him and us to get used to that fact [that he will suffer some swelling] probably for the rest of his career.

"I can remember having spent some time with Melbourne and David Schwarz coming back from three knee reconstructions. Just the ongoing management of that knee - there's always going to be a little bit of swelling from time to time - but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't participate or perform when you've got a little swelling in the knee.

"That's what we've got to be mindful of. It's a little bit foreign to us and Max. Coming back from three knee reconstructions isn't a common thing in AFL footy."

Luke Hodge is a $428,300 midfielder in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.